Russia's interference campaign in Moldova destroyed by hack on Shor's network.

Sep 24, 2025

On September 3rd, Ilan Shor’s Russian-backed political influence network, comprised chiefly of the ‘political entity’ Victorie Bloc, was exposed by hackers, who leaked compromising data from Shor-affiliated companies A7 and Anykey LLC into a ProtonDrive and disseminated online.

Ilan Shor fled to Russia in 2019 and whilst in exile, was elected as a Moldovan MP within the Șor Party, and sat for 4 years. In 2023, after being convicted for embezzling over $1 million of public money in Moldova, Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison. When his conviction was confirmed, Shor was removed as an MP, and the pro-Moscow Șor Party was dissolved after being deemed unconstitutional.

In 2024, Shor, now a Russian citizen, invited political allies to Moscow, and formed the Victorie Bloc, a pro-Russian political outfit designed to put (recently-incarcerated) Evghenia Guțul as a candidate for the 2025 Moldovan election.

Whilst Shor has been vocal in public about his desires to see a union between Moldova and the Russian Federation, the leak revealed details of the lengths Russia goes to in the shadows, in its attempts to maintain political sway in former Communist and Eastern-Bloc states. Not content with its control over the breakaway region of Transnistria, Moscow is determined to bring the rest of Moldova back into its sphere of influence, with a pro-Russian government in place.

Screenshots shared from Shor-aligned telegram accounts show that thousands of individuals within the interference network were contacted, with messages saying: ‘The Victory Bloc has been broken and you will no longer be paid. Ilan Shor and Russia are trying to steal the future of Moldova. Your personal data and criminal activity are public for all to see. Now you are on your own’.

In further screenshots from company Mattermost channels, fugitive oligarch Shor is seen being referred to as ‘Travolta’, at his own request, by employees who are managing IT and payments for his network. In these channels, they make references to supplying documents to the FSB, highlighting Russia’s involvement in the interference and also employees failing to transfer $100M between company accounts, risking Shor’s wrath.

An interesting development became apparent in the leaked data, where multiple contracts detailed the network’s acquisition of an AW139 helicopter and two Gulfstream passenger jets, through Shor associates Victor Gutuleac and Rodion Munteanu and Turkish mediators - inconceivable purchases without extraordinary financial reserves.

In a further release of leaked data, the files showed that Shor’s organizations maintain teams of hundreds of individuals that are paid to protest and vote in favor of Russian-backed entities. Spreadsheets within the drive detail the individuals, along with personal identifiers and specifics including how much they have been paid, month by month, in order to conduct this illicit activity.

As Moldova goes to the polls on September 28th, the hack and subsequent leak will no doubt have undermined the efforts of Russia and pro-Russian Moldovans to interfere with democratic process. Moldovans loyal to the state will likely see this as proof of betrayal by thousands of their countrymen, who have sold their votes and loyalty to the Russian Federation’s expansionist ideal.