Recommended attack on his country
Report: Moldova's former army chief was a Kremlin informant
Igor Gorgan is one of Moldova's top generals. For years he headed the general staff and had access to state secrets. As is now known, he is said to have shared this with Russian military intelligence – and called for an invasion of his country.
Moldova's former chief of general staff, Igor Gorgan, was an informant for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for years, according to a report. This emerges from investigative research by the Russian exile media “The Insider” and the Moldovan YouTube channel “LittleCountry MD”. According to their own statements, the media had access to Gorgan's Telegram chat with his GRU command officer, Colonel Alexei Makarov.
The general is said to have regularly informed Russian intelligence officers about the domestic political situation in Moldova and about arms deliveries to Ukraine. Accordingly, Gorgan shared secret documents with the Russian intelligence services and even called for an attack on Moldova.
According to the “Insider” report, Gorgan was recruited by Russian intelligence back in 2004. At that time, he served in international NATO missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Iraq. Since then, he has been in intelligence contact with various Russian military attachés in his country. Alexei Makarov has been Gorgan's contact person since 2019. At the time, Makarov was a military attaché at the Russian embassy in Chisinau. Moldovan media has repeatedly reported in the past that Gorgan was seen at the Russian embassy on several occasions.
The correspondence between the two men intensified after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. According to intercepted Telegram chats, in the first months after the invasion, the GRU was particularly interested in learning what weapons Ukraine planned to acquire from neighboring countries. In April 2022, Gorgan informed the GRU about Kiev's intention to enter Moldova to purchase six MiG-29 fighter aircraft. Gorgan also informed the GRU about the routes on which trains carrying fuel traveled from Moldova to Ukraine.
Gorgan wanted to “cleanse Moldova of fascist scum”
Gorgan also shared with Makarov information about alleged routes through which Western weapons entered Ukraine. According to the GRU, he wrote that Ukraine's border with Romania is “a big hole.” “A lot of cargo comes to Ukraine from there, especially military cargo!” For this reason, the border must be “closed” as quickly as possible, Gorgan recommended to the Russian military intelligence service.
In addition, Gorgan Makarov was “constantly bombarded with news that everything in Moldova was ready for the invasion of Russian troops,” says the “Insider” report. He wrote in a message to Makarov: “We urgently need to cleanse the country of all fascist scum!!! Many are ready. Pass it on… The time has come. I'm keeping the whole situation in the army under control …” Fortunately, there is no “Azov” or other “nationalist formations” in Moldova, he is said to have written with reference to the Ukrainian elite Azov unit, which is often described by Russian propaganda as a neo-Nazi gang. “And we will deal with the politicians quickly,” Gorgan wrote, without explaining what he meant by that.
Although the general was fired in 2021 – after the election victory of the pro-European politician Maia Sandu -, according to “insiders”, he still has many henchmen in the Ministry of Defense who provide him with confidential information. In May 2022, he received an internal document from them about training plans for the Moldovan army and forwarded it to Makarov.
Does Gorgan now work for the UN refugee agency?
In July 2023, Moldova expelled 45 Russian diplomats and embassy staff following media reports of suspected espionage by Russian intelligence agents. At the end of 2023, according to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, only ten diplomats and administrative staff remained at the embassy. As “The Insider” now reports, contact between Gorgan and Makarov broke off shortly before the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats. Accordingly, Gorgan then got a job in the office of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Moldova. When asked by the YouTube channel “LittleCountry MD” by telephone, Gorgan reacted angrily and described the allegations as “stupid”.
In response to the revelations, the head of the Moldovan presidential administration, Adrian Balutel, said on Telegram that Gorgan would be stripped of all awards and military ranks. “Such crimes against the state should be punished with the harshest punishment for treason,” Balutel wrote. It is not known whether criminal proceedings will be initiated.
Moldova's pro-European President Sandu wants to promote ties to the EU, where her country has had candidate status for around two years. However, Russia still has great influence in the poverty-stricken ex-Soviet republic with around 2.5 million inhabitants. This is particularly true in the breakaway region of Transnistria, where Russian soldiers have been stationed since the 1990s. In the wake of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, there are repeated fears that Moscow could use unrest in the region as a pretext to escalate the situation.
