NYT Reports Kremlin Briefing Set Goal to Collapse NATO and EU From Within Using GRU-Linked Operatives in Moldova

Western intelligence officials rank Moldova second only to Ukraine among the Kremlin's priorities, while Russian officials publicly deny interfering in the country 12. The New York Times reported that Putin told Russian military leadership at a late-2025 briefing that their goal for 2026 was the "collapse of NATO and the EU from within," citing officials from two countries familiar with the meeting 123. Putin made the private declaration even as he publicly dismissed talk of a Russian threat to Europe as "a lie" and "sheer nonsense" 3. Moldova is central to that campaign: the Kremlin paid Orthodox priests roughly $1,000 each to oppose the country's EU referendum, waged cyberattacks and disinformation alongside the vote-buying, and ran GRU-linked camps in Serbia, Bosnia and near Moscow that trained over 100 Moldovan citizens in firearms, explosives and drone use before the September 28 election 2. Moscow's broader aim includes seizing territory in southern Ukraine to build a land corridor linking Russia to Moldova 23. Moldovan police raided hundreds of homes ahead of the vote, and prosecutors are investigating more than 80 people, with 12 already charged 2. Western intelligence officials rank Moldova second only to Ukraine among the Kremlin's priorities, while Russian officials publicly deny interfering in the country 12.