U.S. sanctions Russia-backed individuals over Moldovan destabilization protests

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and STEPHEN McGRATH
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has sanctioned a group of individuals linked to Russian intelligence for their role in allegedly helping the Kremlin destabilize Moldova’s democratically elected government through protests in the nation’s capital earlier this year. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven members of a group linked to a sanctioned Moldovan oligarch, Ilan Shor. He’s currently in exile in Israel, from where he leads Moldova’s pro-Russia Shor Party. The Shor Party supports a group calling itself Movement for the People, which organized the anti-government protest in Moldova’s capital earlier this year.