Moldova, 2023 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 23 February 2023, during the unfolding of the 2023 Moldovan coup plot allegations against the pro-Western government of President Maia Sandu. In February 2023 Ukrainian and Moldovan officials revealed what they described as a Russian plan to overthrow Sandu's government. The plan was first alleged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 9 February, and on 13 February Sandu revealed details, saying it involved saboteurs with military training in civilian clothes staging attacks on state institutions and taking hostages, in order to overthrow the government and install a pro-Russian puppet regime, using Russian, Belarusian, Serbian, and Montenegrin citizens to incite violent protests.
On 21 February the prime minister said Russia had tried to take control of Chisinau airport to bring in diversionists. Sandu later attributed the plot to the Wagner Group and Yevgeny Prigozhin. The affair came amid Russia's hybrid pressure on Moldova after it gained European Union candidate status in 2022.
The 23 February 2023 coding sits in this mid to late February 2023 period of coup-plot revelations.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
35902232023
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Sandu's pro-Western government said it uncovered the plot and tightened security.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Radio Free Europe
Reuters
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →