A protest action organized by the pro-Russian Shor party took place in the center of Chisinau. According to Radio Liberty, the participants demanded from the authorities to pay citizens' utility bills for the winter months and chanted slogans against President Maia Sandu. Another demand of the protesters is to prevent a military conflict on the territory of Moldova.
The protesters gathered at the monument to the ruler Stephen III the Great and planned to go from there to the parliament building, but the police blocked their path. Citizens tried to break through the police cordon, but to no avail. 54 people were detained, including 21 minors. At the same time, a protest against the Shor party took place in a park nearby.
Shor MP Marina Tauber said that Viorel Cernauteanu, head of the General Police Commissariat, hit her during the clash. Tauber is one of the defendants in the criminal case on illegal financing of the party.
During the day, Chisinau police received four reports of bombs allegedly planted in the city. Law enforcers believe that this is part of a plan to destabilize the situation in the capital. Chisinau airport was evacuated due to a bomb report. A criminal case has been initiated.
The head of the Moldovan police, Cernauteanu, said at a briefing that on the night of March 12, the police detained several people who planned to organize riots, the Publika newspaper writes . According to him, these people were trained by the Russian special services. Cernauteanu said that an agent of the Moldovan authorities was introduced into the group that planned the provocations, who was in direct contact with the organizer of the riots from Russia. According to the plan, groups of five to ten people were supposed to provoke the police into clashes. For this, they were allegedly promised $10,000 each.