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The 2022-2023 Moldovan protests were a series of pro-Russian and anti-government protests in Moldova that broke out in 2022 in response to the Maia Sandu government's pro-Western foreign policy amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of union with Romania, and the inflation and energy crises partly caused by international sanctions on Russia. The protests occurred within the greater context of the Russo-Ukrainian War and Cold War II, during which Russia made repeated threats to invade and "denazify" Moldova if its pro-European government intended to unify with Romania and pursue NATO membership.

The protests were arranged by pro-Russian billionaire Ilan Shor, whose Sor Party offered cash payments to people to attend the protests and provided free transport to the capital for protest attendees. The Sor Party's protests in the capital were held in conjunction with a campaign by the National Liberation Movement in Gagauzia to recognize the dissolution of the Soviet Union as illegal and to call for the restoration of the Soviet Union within its 1991 borders. The protests were joined by the country's main socialist and communist parties, while the pro-Romanian unionist leader Vlad Biletchi was revealed to have ties with the protests under the Orheileaks investigation of December 2022. On 2 February 2023, Russia explicitly stated its support of the protests when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov threatened a Russian invasion of Moldova if Moldova decided to unify with Romania and join NATO. Just eleven days later, Sandu and Ukrainian officials revealed intercepted plans by Russian intelligence to use saboteurs to attack state buildings and take hostages, use Russian, Montenegrin, Belarusian, and Serbian citizens to infiltrate Moldova and instigate protests and provoke outbreaks of violence, and ultimately topple the liberal democratic government of Moldova in favor of a pro-Russian dictatorship headed by Shor. Moldova proceeded to ban Russian, Montenegrin, Belarusian, and Serbian citizens from entering the country, and among the foreigners denied entry into the country was a representative of Russia's Wagner Group. On 21 February, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin responded by revoking a 2012 decree calling for the peaceful resolution of the Transnistria crisis.

The Moldovan government responded to the protests by banning several pro-Russian media outlets, and, in March 2023, the government symbolically changed the national language from Moldovan to Romanian, while Parliament voted to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the socialist and communist bloc opposed both measures. On 13 April 2023, Shor - who went into exile in Israel - was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia for graft; his party's vice president Marina Tauber was arrested on 1 May before she could flee to Israel as well. That same month, however, the Sor Party won the gubernatorial election in Gagauzia after running a populist campaign decrying the Moldovan government's attempts to Romanianize and derussify the region. On 21 May, Moldova arranged a massive counter-protest of 75,000 people in Chisinau. On 19 June, the Sor Party was outlawed for serving as an agent of foreign interests; meanwhile, the Revival Party was founded as an Orthodox Christian, traditionalist, and nationalist force aiming to become the largest left-wing force in the country, bringing together several opponents of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) government.

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