Month: September 2025
President Maia Sandu says parliamentary vote is Moldova’s ‘most consequential election’ and warns against falling deeper into Moscow’s orbit
Moldovans began voting on Sunday in parliamentary elections that could see the country neighbouring Ukraine swerve from its pro-European path towards Moscow, with the government and the EU accusing Russia of “deeply interfering”.
Moldova, an EU candidate country, has long been divided over closer ties with Brussels or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
In once-occupied Sloviansk, war has become so routine that nobody pays attention to air-raid sirens
On a sunny afternoon this week the beach in the frontline Ukrainian city of Sloviansk was busy. Bathers paddled in a lake, sunbathed and sipped tea. At 3.30pm there was a sudden thunderclap. An artillery shell had crashed nearby, sending up a plume of twisting grey smoke. Ducks took off in panic. The swimmers glanced nonchalantly upwards and carried on bobbing in the salty water.
“After three years of fighting we’ve got used to booms. They don’t bother us any more,” Alyona, a pensioner in a swimsuit, explained. She pointed to a concrete box beyond a row of wooden changing cabins and outdoor showers. “If the bombs are close we’ve got a shelter,” she said. Alyona and her friend waded into the shallows. A man selling grapes sat engrossed reading a book.
