Exiled Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor convened supporters in Moscow on 6 July to announce that his pro-Russian Victory bloc will file registration papers next week for Moldova’s 28 September parliamentary election. Shor, convicted in absentia to 15 years for his role in the 2014 bank-fraud scandal, created the coalition in 2024 after his original party was outlawed in Chişinău. Shor told delegates that “the only salvation for Moldova” is a formal union with Russia and said the bloc has begun collecting voter signatures toward that goal, aiming for support from at least 60% of the electorate. He named Evghenia Gutsul, the governor of the autonomous Gagauzia region who is under separate criminal investigation, as the top candidate on the party list. Russian officials, including Federation Council speaker Konstantin Kosachev, attended the event and accused Western governments of manipulating Moldovan politics. Shor warned that the ruling pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity may try to bar Victory from the ballot, calling the forthcoming contest “the dirtiest in Moldova’s history.” The campaign is shaping up as a critical test of Moscow’s influence and of Moldova’s efforts to deepen integration with the European Union.