The Kremlin prepares to destabilize Moldova, likely as a part of the efforts to hinder its EU integration, among other objectives, the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Jan. 28 assessment. Tensions between Moldova and Russia escalated following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with the pro-Western government of Moldova repeatedly accusing the Kremlin of destabilization attempts. Alexei Polishchuk, the director of the Second Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Countries at the Russian Foreign Ministry, claimed in an interview …