No one to go to Odesa region: elections have begun in Moldova

Polling stations opened in Moldova at 7:00 a.m. on September 28 and will be open until 21:00 p.m. to vote for candidates for the country's parliament.

A total of 1,973 polling stations have been opened, including 12 for residents of the Transnistrian region, News Maker reported.

Fourteen parties, four blocs, and four independent candidates are running in the election. The main struggle is expected to unfold between the ruling Action and Solidarity (PAS) party and the Patriotic Bloc, which includes socialists, communists, the Heart of Moldova party and the Future of Moldova party.

The Moldovan authorities have repeatedly reported that Russia is trying to influence the elections in the country. Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Russia plans to use her country as a springboard for a war with Ukraine afterwards.

The day before, the Moldova Mare (Greater Moldova) party, led by Victoria Furtune, which called for the annexation of a part of Odesa region to Moldova, was excluded from the election race. According to the CEC, the party used funds undeclared in financial management reports, funds from abroad, and bribed voters. The party is also accused of participating in a disguised electoral bloc together with representatives of parties whose activities were restricted, who are considered successors of the party recognized as unconstitutional.

On September 21, 2025, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against a politician from the group of Moldovan oligarch Victoria Furtune. The sanctions also targeted a number of other politicians who have repeatedly expressed a pro-Russian position, such as Evgenia Gutsul, a Bashkir from Gagauzia, who was found guilty in August by a Chisinau court of complicity in the illegal financing of the pro-Russian party Shor and sentenced to 7 years in prison in a semi-closed penal colony for women.

Кирило Бойко