In the towns and villages of ten districts of the Republic of Moldova, located along the Dniester River, the presence of the most aggressive Russian propaganda television channels is orchestrated directly from Tiraspol. Over 850,000 people are bombarded by 10 TV channels — a mix of local Transnistrian and Russian stations — where the most fervent supporters of Russia’s war in Ukraine justify its importance 24/7. Most antennas in the villages of the Security Zone point toward Tiraspol, a clear sign that locals are almost constantly connected to the information fed by the separatist regime, despite the ban imposed by Chișinău. Meanwhile, Ukrainian TV channels, whose signals also reached the right bank of the Dniester, have been blocked by Tiraspol. No central authority in the Republic of Moldova has claimed responsibility for addressing this situation — nor have they demonstrated a clear intention to stop the Transnistrian brainwashing machine. In April 2023, just a few months before the elections for the governor (bashkan) of Gagauzia, Anticoruptie.md revealed a scheme through which a cable operator was massively broadcasting propaganda channels. The “truth” coming from the TV screens helped secure the victory of a candidate backed by Ilan Shor. Now, the same scenario is unfolding in the eastern districts of the Republic of Moldova, right under the nose of the constitutional authorities, once again on the eve of a decisive election.

10 DISTRICTS – 450 LOCALITIES – 850,000 PEOPLE

The Russian and Transnistrian TV channels, broadcast from antennas installed at three points on the left bank of the Dniester — Slobozia, Tiraspol, and Bender — are received, without exception, in all ten districts bordering the separatist region. These districts include Soroca, Florești, Șoldănești, Rezina, Orhei, Criuleni, Anenii Noi, Căușeni, Dubăsari, and Ștefan Vodă.

In numbers, this means that these channels can be — and are — watched by approximately 850,000 people living in 430 localities. According to the latest census by the National Bureau of Statistics, this accounts for 34% of the entire population of the Republic of Moldova.

TOWARD HAGIMUS, THROUGH TWO CHECKPOINTS + A FINE

We decided to go to the village of Hagimus, in the Căușeni district, to see with our own eyes how a simple antenna brings Russian propaganda into people’s homes, by shortcut, that is, through the separatist Transnistrian region.

At the so-called customs post in Tighina, a separatist soldier told us to pull the car over to the right. We complied. Later, under the pretext that the car insurance (RCA) was not in physical format but on the phone—a perfectly legal option in the territory controlled by the authorities in Chișinău—a discussion began, with many undertones, about the consequences of this “violation.” We tried to explain that this requirement was illegal, but the soldier asked us to follow him into a room with a “white door,” where we were told we had to pay a fine of 200 lei.

The militiaman warned us that if we didn’t want to pay the supposed fine, we would have to turn back and make a long detour to reach Hagimus. After paying for the so-called infraction, we asked for a receipt. We were told the receipt was already “entered into the system.”

Along the short road from Tighina to Hagimus, through Tighina, we noticed a deserted city, with many abandoned buildings and bleak scenes of a world seemingly frozen in the last century. At the checkpoint on the way out, a huge line of cars was waiting to exit the Transnistrian region toward constitutionally controlled Moldova.

RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA CHANNELS, RECEIVED FROM TIRASPOL, WITH… A FORK

In the village of Hagimus, Căușeni district, located less than one kilometer from the Transnistrian region, there is no house without a television antenna on the roof.

This is no coincidence, because only this way can locals watch, for free, heavy propaganda channels from the Russian Federation, such as NTV, TNT, Rossiya 1, ORT, STV—and not even the constitutional authorities intervene. All these antennas, without exception, are pointed toward Tiraspol, because the signal is better that way. The signal is so strong that it even reaches neighboring districts. For example, residents of the town of Căinari, located 51 km from Tiraspol, “enjoy” the fake news spewed from Moscow’s mouthpieces, right from their TVs.

We arrived at the Danilescu family’s house in Hagimus, Căușeni, on a Saturday, exactly at noon, just as the news bulletin on Rossiya 1 was beginning—broadcast every hour on the hour, without interruption, even on weekends, because Russian propaganda never rests.

The so-called news started with a report from the frontline where Ukrainian drones, launched by Kyiv into Russia, were presented by the reporter as “enemy drones.”

“A drone with four engines was carrying kilograms of explosives. Ruslan Bikbulatov, on the fight against enemy drones. After the bombings, such craters are formed from the explosions. Look, here it still smolders, what remains of this building. From the border area in Kursk, Stanislav Nazarov, from the front line. Reports from our war correspondents.”

In the same bulletin, in the report about Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Donald Trump in the USA, the state of Alaska was presented by Rossiya 1 as “Russian territory, which once belonged to the empire.”

Serghei Danilescu explains how Tiraspol defies the law by intoxicating the right bank with propaganda channels deliberately pushed at consumers here. According to him, it is enough to stick a fork into the base of the television—such is the strength of the signal—to watch a minimum of channels. Locals who install more sophisticated antennas or specialized devices can receive up to 40 Russian and Transnistrian channels.

Serghei also says that not all villagers can afford a monthly subscription to a cable TV operator, and the separatists immediately reoriented themselves and offered an “alternative.” Absolutely free, but dangerous for the country’s security. The man recounts how thoroughly brainwashed his relatives in Tighina have become, to the point where their ability to think logically has been completely erased.

VICTORIA AND SERGHEI DANILESCU, residents of Hagimus village, Căușeni district

“If you stick an aluminum fork into the base of the TV, you’ll get four or five direct local channels: PMR, Pervyi Kanal, Bender – BTV, and CTC, with a strong signal. It’s just a simple cable, no antenna, nothing. You just throw the cable out the window and you’ll get five channels for free. That’s how strong the signal is from there. If you make a little more effort and buy a tuner, T2 or T4, then you’ll have 40 channels from the Transnistrian area.

We use Moldtelecom, but we are very interested in combating their information and making the distinction. We are prepared—we can filter, compare the information that reaches us. But a large part of the citizens, especially the middle-aged and elderly, are indifferent toward Moldovan TV. At the moment there are 22 channels, of which 8 are purely propaganda. Local Transnistrian production accounts for about four channels. If you pass through our villages, Chircăiești, Hagimus, you’ll see many houses with decimeter antennas pointed toward Bender or Slobozia.

We are forced to pay 220 lei just to have Moldovan information on our TV at home. People can’t really afford to pay 3,000 lei a year just to watch television. In Bender, I have cousins—my first cousin was born in Reni, where I’m from too. In Reni and Izmail they’re bombarded almost every night there by the Russians with drones. My aunt has a daughter in Odesa. The daughter tells her mother: ‘Mom, the Ukrainians are right, the Russians are the bad ones.’ But she says, ‘No, the Ukrainians attacked Russia.’ That’s what Russian TV influence means.”

On the house of another Hagimus resident stands an antenna that is as original as it is dangerous for those vulnerable to propaganda. Vasile Iepure made it out of two German car license plates to catch Russian channels.

The man says he watches them occasionally, out of interest, to see how Moscow twists the truth.

VASILE IEPURE, resident of Hagimus, Căușeni district

“Now that antenna doesn’t work, but it used to. Maybe a cable broke somewhere. I don’t watch them. They tell lies—what, am I a little child? Can’t I see what they do, the nonsense they say? Clearly it’s brainwashing. What, I don’t see it? Even close friends, I see they don’t think straight. Just at the market, how many arguments I’ve had with Slavic. They should jam those channels, not allow them to broadcast.”

UKRAINIAN TV CHANNELS, BLOCKED BY TIRASPOL, FOR BOTH BANKS OF THE DNIESTER

The peak of Transnistrian propaganda, both in the Security Zone and on the left bank, is the blocking of Ukrainian TV stations. In short, the Russian Federation was chosen to be the main source of information for the indoctrinated region, but also for those on the right bank. Locals say this was done intentionally, because the truth from the Ukrainians is obvious, and out of fear that a seed of doubt might grow about Moscow’s narrative, they shut them down.

VICTORIA AND SERGHEI DANILESCU, residents of Hagimus, Căușeni district

“The Ukrainian channels are officially present in the receiver, but they don’t show up. They are blocked. These are Ukrainian channels: Novyi Kanal, 2+2, TET, 1+1, Ukraina—they don’t show them because the information there would destroy Russia’s fake news.”

 

“IF YOU TELL A MAN A HUNDRED TIMES HE’S CRAZY, HE BEGINS TO BELIEVE IT”

Other locals in Căușeni believe that propaganda transmitted by Russian TV, broadcast from the Transnistrian region onto the right bank, negatively affects people’s thinking in the Security Zone.

Vasile Berzoi says this could also impact the parliamentary elections this autumn, because the stakes are very high: East or West. His wife, who is a member of the local electoral bureau, told him how in past elections, Transnistrian residents came organized to vote. Another villager, Alexei, explains how the separatist regime’s TV stations denigrate the Republic of Moldova and the constitutional authorities in every program.

VASILE BERZOI, resident of Hagimus village, Căușeni district

“In our village, who doesn’t have antennas…? Many people watch channels from the Transnistrian region, but from elsewhere too. Still, in the other part of the village, the majority only watch Russian channels.
– But do people in the village believe what the Russians say?
– If you tell a healthy man a hundred times that he’s crazy, he begins to believe it. I’ve been receiving these channels for as long as I can remember. They have no influence on me. I watch them, and if I get angry, I change the channel. For the elections this autumn, I think these TVs are dangerous. Their impact is strong. Some villagers don’t watch anything else. Many work in Chișinău, but when they vote, well, they are ‘prednestrovtsy.’ Even my wife is on the election commission. All the residents would come—for example, from Termeriazeva Street, then another group from another street. You could tell they were being brought in.”

ALEXEI, resident of Hagimus village, Căușeni district

“I think it’s channel 8, TNT… anyway, there are a few of them. If I get annoyed when something is Russian, I change them. I change the channel. If they were to tell the truth, they would regret it for years. The kind of propaganda they spread, Russian ideology—we already know it. It doesn’t connect with our side. For them everything is fine. For us everything is bad and hard and bad. And when the news starts, they begin: ‘A v Moldove…’ (‘In Moldova…’). They voted poorly on that side, and the Moldovans there too. Poorly. Their ideology works, including through the TV channels.”

 

TV ANTENNAS, MORE THAN PEOPLE

The same picture persists in other localities on the right bank of the Dniester in the Republic of Moldova. Dozens of antennas rise from rooftops, pointed toward Tiraspol. In the village of Ursoaia, Căușeni district, for example, we saw the highest number of antennas, a sign that people are watching TV stations broadcast from the left bank—maybe out of curiosity, maybe as a source of information.

In the village of Fîrlădeni, the multitude of antennas can even be seen from above, from the highest hill nearby.

To the north, in Rezina district, the situation is identical. Except here, the TV signal is provided to the right bank by Rîbnița. According to the town’s mayor, TV stations from the Republic of Moldova are almost never watched. After the country switched to digital television, many chose to remain on analog, using antennas with free signal offered by Tiraspol.

Simion Tatarov says that here too, many people made “high-performance” antennas out of just two beer cans.

“Moldovan television channels fall into a shadow zone, because the majority, after the switch to digital TV, stayed on analog, and they watch Transnistrian TV with two aluminum beer cans, and they watch only Transnistria.”

 

“I DON’T BELIEVE RUSSIA IS DANGEROUS”

Those who watch propaganda TV stations from Tiraspol—Russian and Transnistrian—told us they prefer these channels because “they are more interesting,” while on local Moldovan channels “there’s nothing to watch.”

Some admitted that in the past they followed the talk shows of Russia’s biggest war ideologues and supporters of the invasion in Ukraine, such as Vladimir Solovyov, Margarita Simonyan, or Olga Skabeyeva. Others said they are not victims of manipulation, but at the same time, they believe Russia is not dangerous for the Republic of Moldova.

“I watch TNT, NTV, whatever else is there—Russian, Transnistrian. There’s nothing to watch on Moldovan stations, that’s it. I’ll tell you what it is—it’s always the same. Before they used to show a movie. Solovyov, Skabeyeva, who else was there, I still remember… Margarita Simonyan.”

“My husband watches both Russian and Moldovan channels, but I watch only Russian.
–And the Russian channels you get from the Transnistrian region, do you watch them?
–NTV and TNT. All these stations blame each other. I don’t live in Russia, so I don’t get involved. It’s not interesting to me. What’s interesting is what happens here.
–But voices from Moscow’s leadership say that after Ukraine, the next target will be the Republic of Moldova.
–No, no, I don’t believe that. Why would they need us? I don’t believe it, of course. At the elections I will definitely go to vote. I want a better quality of life, higher salaries, lower service tariffs, stability, changes.”

“Everyone has the right to watch what they want. If they want to watch Russian channels, fine; Romanian, fine; Moldovan, fine. Everyone watches what they like, according to their wishes.”

 

TIRASPOL (MOSCOW) ACTS, CHIȘINĂU PASSES THE BUCK: THE TRANSNISTRIAN TV SIGNAL, A PROBLEM WITHOUT AN OWNER

In the middle of a hybrid war, on the eve of crucial parliamentary elections, and amid bold statements about the fight against Russian influence, the central authorities pretend not to see the problem. We contacted FIVE STATE INSTITUTIONS to find out why the issue is being swept under the rug, and why the anti-propaganda fight does not include blocking the TV signal from the left bank of the Dniester:

• National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI)

• Cyber Security and Information Technology Service (STISC)

• Intelligence and Security Service (SIS)

• Audiovisual Council

• Bureau for Reintegration Policies

The first two authorities told us it is not their competence: STISC suggested we contact ANRCETI, while ANRCETI pointed back to STISC. SIS did not respond to our request for information, while the Audiovisual Council said its responsibilities cover only media institutions operating legally under Moldovan jurisdiction.

The Bureau for Reintegration Policies advised us to contact the Audiovisual Council and ANRCETI—“institutions with direct competences in the field.” Still, the Bureau stressed that the issue is constantly raised in the framework of the working groups for negotiations on telecommunications and postal services.

 

VOTERS IN THE SECURITY ZONE COURTED BY PRO-RUSSIAN POLITICIANS FROM CHIȘINĂU

In recent times, more and more politicians affiliated with Moscow, through Ilan Șor’s network, have been organizing increasing numbers of propaganda events in localities within the Security Zone. One such electoral meeting took place recently at a restaurant in Tighina. At that time, members and leaders of the Victory bloc, created in Moscow by the convicted criminal, brought in, by minibuses, hundreds of participants from several regions of the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor, a resident of Căușeni district, recounts how that day he witnessed a real “landing” of supposed supporters of the bloc, who were organized and transported to Tighina. The event was coordinated by a Gagauz and two Russians who incited people to chant anti-government slogans. Dressed in white T-shirts with red stars, they also staged a small protest before sitting down to eat.

For this, the supporters of the Pobeda bloc, says Victor, were “rewarded” with money. But the joy did not last long. The police arrived, drew up reports, and fined them several times more than the payment they had received.

“Half a kilometer away from us a regional assembly of the Pobeda bloc was organized. From different villages, from our district, from Ștefan Vodă, from cities — many people came, buses full. So many people in white T-shirts with red stars. Moldovans, both on that side and on this one. But who was manipulating them? Two Russians and a Gagauz who couldn’t string two words together in Romanian. They went around provoking, stirring up quarrels. For this, they were punished, fined. It’s said that fines reached 20–30 thousand, even people from the neighborhood were fined. But this should be public, so everyone knows who. For electoral bribery. In our village, some were distributing money to locals to take part in such events. This happened before the presidential elections.”

 

THE TRANSNISTRIAN TV SIGNAL — AN ELEMENT OF RUSSIA’S HYBRID WAR

The effects of Russian propaganda television, broadcast from Transnistria into the Security Zone, were most visible during the constitutional referendum on Moldova’s accession to the EU. According to the Central Electoral Commission’s results, in the 10 districts + the left bank, the population voted massively AGAINST, a narrative promoted by Moscow through televised propagandists. Here, 60% of voters said NO to the European Union (a YES to Moscow), and only 40% voted in favor. In the other districts of Moldova, the vote was the opposite: 60% YES, 40% NO.

PHOTO — VOTING RESULTS

 

NOTE: Since 2022, Russian propaganda television channels have been banned by law in the Republic of Moldova, after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, residents of the Security Zone continue to watch them with the “help” of Tiraspol, which amplified the signal’s strength to cover districts on the right bank of the Dniester with propaganda messages.

This investigation was carried out with the support of International Media Support (IMS) from Denmark.