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Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed his intelligence agencies and military to pursue efforts this year to weaken NATO and the European Union, with Moldova identified as a key target after Ukraine, according to a report by The New York Times.
The report, published Friday, cited officials familiar with a secret meeting held in December 2025. It said Moscow’s strategy is focused on two main objectives: testing NATO’s willingness to defend its members and destabilising Moldova.
According to US intelligence assessments, Russia could test NATO’s cohesion through cyberattacks, sabotage, operations involving unidentified armed groups or a limited military incursion into one of the alliance’s eastern members.
Western intelligence officials told the Times that Putin’s primary objective remains taking control of Ukraine, while his second major priority is establishing influence over Moldova.
Officials believe Moscow could seek to expand its political influence in Moldova, including its capital Chisinau, while potentially capturing parts of southern Ukraine to create a land corridor linking Russia with Moldova.
Such a corridor could leave Moldova, a country of around 2.4 million people situated between Ukraine and NATO-EU territory, in an increasingly vulnerable position.
Moldova is already home to the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, where Russian troops have been stationed for decades. The presence gives Moscow an established military foothold near Ukraine and within striking distance of Chisinau.
According to the report, gaining greater control over Moldova would allow Russia to increase pressure on Ukraine while putting additional strain on the eastern defence posture of both NATO and the EU.
A direct military operation is not the only potential tool available to Moscow. The report pointed to the March Russian strike on a Ukrainian hydroelectric facility, which caused an oil spill into the Dniester River and disrupted water supplies in Moldova.
The effects were felt in several parts of Moldova, including its third-largest city, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to disruptions originating from the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
The reported strategy underscores growing Western concerns that Russia could seek to exploit political, economic and security vulnerabilities beyond Ukraine to test European unity and weaken NATO’s eastern flank.