Putin’s Kaliningrad Eavesdrop and Moldova’s Oligarch Bribes

Democratic and Economic Security Outlook 2025: 25-31 August

25 August 2025

Russia’s new surveillance hub in Kaliningrad looms over NATO, while a fugitive oligarch bankrolls election chaos in Moldova ahead of a crucial Weimar Triangle visit.

As Vladimir Putin scrambles for a crisis summit with Xi Jinping, Russia is quietly constructing a sprawling signals intelligence facility in Kaliningrad, just 100km from NATO’s Polish and Lithuanian borders, poised to snoop on military and civilian communications. Meanwhile, in Moldova, exiled oligarch Ilan Shor is splashing $3,000 monthly payouts to fuel protests and sway September’s elections, backed by a Moscow-based network of 130,000 operatives. The Weimar Triangle’s visit to Chisinau on 27 August underscores the high stakes for democratic security in EU candidate countries.

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