Yahoo TV

STORY: A Moldovan security official accused Russia on Sunday (November 3) of "massive interference", as voters cast their ballots in a tight presidential race.

It's a run-off election that could see Moscow claw back influence in a country drawing closer to the European Union.

Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu spoke of defending the country's sovereignty after voting in the capital Chisinau.

"Thieves want to buy our voices, buy our country. But the power of the people is much greater than the power of evil," she said.

Her pro-Moscow opponent, Alexandr Stoianoglo, said he voted for a Moldova that will develop good ties with both the West and the East.

Brussels is closely watching the election, after Sandu set Moldova on the long path of EU accession talks in June.

It comes a week after Georgia, another ex-Soviet state seeking EU membership, re-elected a ruling party regarded in the West as increasingly pro-Russian.

Moldova's future has been in the spotlight since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022 of neighboring Ukraine to the east.

On Sunday, Sandu's national security adviser Stanislav Secrieru wrote on social media, accusing Moscow of interfering in the election.

Warning it was "an effort with high potential to distort the outcome."

Secrieru cited reports of Moldovans being transported to vote in an organized and illegal way from a pro-Moscow breakaway region, where Russia has soldiers stationed as peacekeepers.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow, which has denied past allegations of meddling.

Sandu's government has also accused Ilan Shor, a fugitive oligarch living in Russia, of spending millions of dollars to pay off voters to oppose Sandu.

It said the meddling affected the election's first round results on October 20.

Shor has denied wrongdoing.