Russia under President Vladimir Putin doesn't rely much on soft power to get its way abroad, in the same way it doesn't do much liberal democracy at home. It does, however, do manipulation, and Europe is only just waking up to how much and how well.

In late September Andrei, a middle-aged Moldovan, was set upon by two men in a park in the center of this city. They had found his number on a gay dating site, arranged a meetup and, after calling him a faggot, beat him and kicked him in the face. Then, for good measure, they stole his bag and wallet. “It was vicious, and when the police arrived they started asking me all these degrading questions,” says Andrei, who asked that his name be changed.

Dumitru Condrea has big plans, but an even bigger problem. After six years working in civil society, the affable 25-year-old activist says his hope for change has eroded. He says he loves his country, but has run out of options. “If you want to change something, you need money. And I can’t make money here in Moldova.”

The campaign team behind the incumbent Transnistrian president, Yevgeny Shevchuk, appreciated the strength of the internet during the 2011 presidential election, and it is believed that the use of online social networks contributed to Shevchuk’s unexpected victory over Igor Smirnov,

Turkey’s use of “soft power” among the 250,000 Gagauz living in the former Soviet space...represents a growing threat to Russian interests not just in Moldova but across the entire Black Sea region, according to a Russian analyst.

Russia has begun financing “nongovernmental” organizations and “independent” mass media outlets that are willing to advance the Kremlin’s understanding of Russian interests (interests that, as a rule, contradict the interests of Moldova itself).