Former Head of Moldova's General Staff Reportedly Supplied Information to Russian Military Intelligence for Years

The former head of Moldova's General Staff, Igor Gorgon, who left his position in 2021, has reportedly been a source for Russian military intelligence for several years and continues this activity to this day. This was reported by The Insider following an investigation conducted in collaboration with Moldovan journalists.

Journalists assert that they gained access to Gorgon's correspondence on Telegram with one of his curators, Colonel Alexey Makarov. According to their conclusions, he remains a significant informant for the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, thanks to longstanding connections within the Ministry of Defense. It remains unclear when Gorgon began working as an informant; a source from military intelligence for The Insider speculates it could have been as early as 2004 when Gorgon was serving in a NATO mission.

Prior to Colonel Makarov, he reportedly maintained contact with the Russian military attaché in Chișinău, Vadim Uhnalyev, and later with his successor, Igor Dovbny. Journalists managed to obtain a recording of a conversation in which they arrange to meet concerning a monument dedicated to “Afghans” in Chișinău. Dovbny was expelled from Moldova for espionage in 2017. Makarov likely assumed the curatorship in 2019.

Gorgon’s communications with Makarov intensified in April 2022. He regularly provided insights regarding Moldova's domestic political situation and questions surrounding weapons acquisitions during visits from representatives of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. Meetings occurred in cafes and during fishing trips.

The Russian side expressed interest in what weapons Ukraine was procuring, including from Moldova. Gorgon disseminated information indicating that Ukraine was attempting to purchase six MiG-29s under the guise of a company in the UAE. In another piece of correspondence, he described how Ukrainian representatives were “taking rounds of artillery” from Moldova over a period of three weeks.

He also detailed the movement of combustible trains through Moldova towards Ukrainian Reni and complained that Ukraine was receiving significant cargoes—including weapons—through Romania. In another message, Gorgon mentioned learning about the Ukrainian attempts to contact the radio electronics factory in Chișinău via Moldova's Ministry of Defense, which once produced electronics for Soviet weaponry and possesses documentation regarding the radio electronic components of the “Tochka-U” system manufactured in Chișinău.

This and other messages suggest that Gorgon still has whistleblowers remaining within the Ministry of Defense. Moldovan investigative journalists have repeatedly spotted Gorgon near the Russian Embassy and once recorded his meeting with Makarov.