Romania's Defense Ministry has warned that dozens of social-media posts claiming Bucharest has been massing troops and military equipment at its border with Moldova are part of "a fake news" campaign launched by the Kremlin since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
"We remind everyone that the accuracy of such sensationalist and panicky information can best be verified by consulting official sources," the ministry said on February 28.
Moldova is sandwiched between EU- and NATO-member Romania and Ukraine, with which it shares a 1,200-kilometer border. Russia maintains more than 1,000 troops in Moldova's separatist region of Transndiester.
Russia has falsely claimed that Ukraine is planning to invade Transdniester, raising suspicions that Moscow is looking for a pretext to annex the separatist region, as it did with Ukraine's Crimea in 2014.
SEE ALSO: President Sandu Invites Biden To 'Revisit' Moldova Amid Russia TensionsMoldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have warned that Moscow is planning destabilizing actions inside the country to justify a Russian invasion from Transdniester that could transform Moldova into a launch pad for Russian attacks on Ukraine.
A Twitter account called Geoinsider that bears the site's "verified" blue check mark published on February 26 an image allegedly depicting Romanian troops moving toward the Moldovan border.
The caption of the image read, "Romania deployed antiaircraft systems to the border with Moldova. Romanian military tanks and armored vehicles have also been deployed at the border."
The post by the account, which claims to be located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and reports "geopolitical & military news from all over the world,” has since been deleted.
However, it was reposted several hundred times by dozens of Twitter accounts, with some even claiming that Romanian troops had already crossed into Moldova.
In a statement to RFE/RL, Defense Ministry spokesman Constantin Spinu rejected those claims, saying that "there have been no changes whatsoever in the deployment of Romanian forces and antiaircraft systems."
Much of Moldova was part of Romania until World War II, before being occupied by the Soviet Union and transformed into a Soviet republic. Romania and Moldova share a common history, culture, and language.
Spinu told RFE/RL that the Romanian military had been facing a wave of fake news since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with some posts going viral.
He said the Defense Ministry had established its own anti-fake-news platform called Inforadar to discredit and dispute the fake claims.
The ministry said separately on February 27 that the screenshots posted on social media were actually taken during the National Day military parade in the city of Alba Iulia on December 1, 2022, and that familiar landmarks, such as the city stadium, are visible in the background on video.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Sandu in Poland and "reaffirmed strong U.S. support for Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity."