美国国家公共电台 NPR--From TV to Telegram to TikTok, Moldova is being flooded with Russian propaganda

From TV to Telegram to TikTok, Moldova is being flooded with Russian propaganda

Transcript¹

In February, Moldovan president Maia Sandu publicly accused Russia of plotting to overthrow² her government — an allegation first made days before by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia quickly denied the claim and turned the tables, accusing Ukraine of planning a false flag attack against the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria.

In Moldova, pro-Russian voices dismissed the coup³ plot as Moldovan propaganda.

"They say that this all is a hoax," said Valeriu Pa?a, chairman of WatchDog.MD, a think tank based in Moldova's capital, Chisinau. "[They say] President Sandu [is using] these scary stories in order to make people forget about economic and social problems, and in order to install a dictatorship in Moldova."

Documents claiming to show Ukrainian invasion orders spread on Telegram and Twitter. A video claiming to show Romania massing military equipment on the Moldovan border racked up more than 300,000 views on Telegram, according to Logically, a company that tracks disinformation.

But the documents were forged, and the video was from a military parade held months ago, said Mark Sawyer, a senior intelligence analyst⁴ at Logically.

"It was old footage that was just recast as something new, which is pretty common," he said,

As Russia's war in Ukraine drags on, neighboring Moldova is feeling the consequences.

Civil society groups and social media researchers say Russia is ramping⁵ up its efforts to destabilize the former Soviet⁶ state, a candidate for European Union membership, through propaganda and false information.

"One of the key things that's been happening recently, particularly the last few weeks, is that there's been a lot of anxiety," said Kyle Walter, Logically's head of research. "Once the Ukrainian government said that there was intelligence that suggested that a Moldova coup was going to happen, [we saw] Russian disinformation and propaganda efforts targeting Moldova, but also targeting a potential alliance between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania."

None of this surprises Pa?a, given Russia's deep involvement in Moldovan politics since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

"Moldova [has been] facing these Russian information ops and other kind of hybrid⁷ interference [since] far before that was cool," he said.

Today, these pro-Russian narratives⁹ are pushed heavily by news outlets¹⁰, politicians, online influencers and social media ads. Or, as Pa?a put it: "From very serious evening talk shows on political subjects to TikTok."

But things have escalated¹¹ since Russia invaded Ukraine, and as Sandu's government has stuck to its pro-European stance.

The Kremlin was already "portraying¹² the government of Moldova as a kind of western puppets," Pa?a said. "But now they say that these are Western puppets who are here to destroy you as a country and as a traditional people and as a Christian¹³ country. And they are actually here because they have a special mission from their Western bosses to bring your country in the war against Russia, because they want to destroy Russia. Again, we're coming back to the narrative⁸ that the whole world exists just with one goal: to destroy Russia."

Recent public polling from WatchDog,MD found many Moldovans are receptive to Russian narratives blaming Ukraine and NATO for the war and pinning high energy prices on their own government rather than Russia cutting gas supplies.

Just days before Sandu's coup accusations¹⁴, Moldova's prime minister resigned, blaming crises caused by Russian aggression¹⁵.

Pa?a says the Kremlin's goal is to stoke uncertainty¹⁶ and exacerbate¹⁷ tensions in an already polarized country, in a bid to keep it in Moscow's orbit.

"This is the first goal and the first success level of Russian propaganda always. Not necessarily making people to trust their version of what's happening, but to make people confused," he said.

"For Russia, in a country like Moldova, keeping this low level of social cohesion¹⁸ is very important," he added. "Otherwise, this country can mobilize and somehow make an a conscious effort to integrate quicker with the West and to know its place in the world."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

8 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

9 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

10 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

12 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

15 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

16 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

17 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

18 cohesion   

n.团结，凝结力

参考例句：

• I had to bring some cohesion into the company.我得使整个公司恢复凝聚力。
• The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality,creativity and cohesion of a nation. 文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、创造力和凝聚力之中。