Moldova’s ex-chief of General Staff, suspected of spying for Russia, appeals against revocation of state awards

Former Moldovan Chief of the General Staff, suspected of working for Russia, appeals against deprivation of state awards.

Igor Gorgan, the former Chief of the General Staff of Moldova and suspected spy for Russia, has appealed President Maia Sandu’s decree to revoke his state awards. This was reported by the Anticorupție portal.

On July 9, Gorgan filed a request with a Chisinau court to challenge the president’s decision.

On June 11, Sandu signed a decree stripping Gorgan of his military ranks and state awards, which he received in 2006 and 2015.

In June, a journalistic investigation conducted by The Insider revealed that Gorgan, the former Chief of the General Staff of Moldova who left office in 2021, had been an informant for Russian military intelligence for years and continues to do so.

The independent Russian investigative outlet published Telegram messages purported to be between Gorgan and his handlers in the Russia’s military intelligence, GRU, dating back to April 2022. The Insider claimed it had been leaked the messages from an anonymous source.

Gorgan studied at a military school in Russia prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. He also received training in the US and participated in NATO missions in Bosnia, Georgia and Iraq. Since leaving the army, Gorgan has been working for the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency.

The former senior Moldovan military officer was accused of betraying his country by passing on sensitive information about the nation’s defenses to Russian intelligence services.

The Moldovan Information and Security Service confirmed the investigation’s findings, and Sandu stripped Gorgan of state awards.

On June 13, the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Affairs of Moldova confirmed that it had opened a criminal case against Gorgan.

Moldova and its European allies have in recent months sounded the alarm over Russian efforts to destabilize the country, with reports that Moscow has been trying to topple the elected government and fomenting discontent through local proxies.