The court of first instance has declared inadmissible the administrative lawsuit filed by the NGO Ador Orașul Meu (I Love My City) against the Ministry of Culture and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The organization seeks the annulment of a consultative opinion issued on May 22, 2025, regarding the proposed termination of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the Russian Federation on the establishment and functioning of cultural centers. The decision may be appealed at the Chișinău Court of Appeal within 15 days. Anticoruptie.md had previously exposed, in the investigation The Matryoshkas of Russian Propaganda, how, through Russian science and culture centers opened in Comrat, Tiraspol, Bălți, and Chișinău, the so-called “Russian world” simulates cultural dialogue while engaging in organizing illegal referendums, suspicious exchange programs, and gatherings where ideological satellites of Moscow promote the Kremlin’s expansionist rhetoric.

In February this year, Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to unilaterally terminate the intergovernmental agreement with Russia, signed in 1998, concerning the creation and operation of cultural centers. The Russian Center in the capital and its three branches are expected to cease operations once all procedural steps are completed.

This decision followed an incident on the night of February 13, when several Russian drones crossed Moldovan airspace, with two of them exploding near villages in the country’s south.

In response, the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently summoned the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in Chișinău, Oleg Ozerov.

Moldovan authorities expressed firm protest over these unacceptable violations, emphasizing that such incidents pose a serious threat to national security and to the safety of Moldovan citizens.

The Ministry also presented fragments of the drones that fell on Moldovan territory. As a response to these provocations, the MFA decided to unilaterally terminate the 1998 intergovernmental agreement. Accordingly, the Russian Cultural Center in the capital, along with its branches in other cities, is expected to cease operations in Moldova.

After leaving the Foreign Ministry, Russian Ambassador Ozerov suggested that the presented fragments may not be of Russian origin or could be part of a provocation.

“How do you know these drones are Russian? This needs to be clarified. Further investigation is necessary,” Ozerov said.

Located at 2 Mihai Eminescu Street, the Russian Cultural Center in Chișinău has become a major outlet for Kremlin propaganda. Under the guise of cultural and educational programs, it hosts events involving advocates of Kremlin rhetoric. In addition to cultural exchanges for students, doctors, and teachers—selected to travel to the Russian Federation—the center regularly organizes large public gatherings.

On February 24, 2023, marking one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Science and Culture Center in Chișinău was vandalized. Unidentified individuals splashed red paint on its walls, mirroring similar actions at Russian diplomatic missions and cultural centers around the world.