Moldova asked three Russian diplomats to leave the country, accusing them of helping a pro-Kremlin Moldovan lawmaker evade imprisonment on charges of illegal political financing, the country’s foreign ministry said.
The diplomats were declared personae non grata based on “clear evidence” of conduct that violated their diplomatic status, the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow denounced the move as “unjustified” and warned of retaliatory measures. “This will not go unanswered by an adequate and tough response,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Moldova claims that the Russian embassy aided Alexander Nesterovsky, a pro-Russian member of Moldova’s parliament, in escaping a 12-year prison sentence.
Authorities say Nesterovsky was convicted in absentia for illegally funneling money—including funds from sanctioned entities—to a pro-Kremlin party linked to fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor during Moldova’s 2023 local elections, last year’s presidential vote, and a national referendum on joining the European Union.
Moldova’s Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) claims that surveillance footage from March 18—one day before Nesterovsky’s sentencing—showed him entering the Russian Embassy in Chisinau. The next day, he was reportedly driven to Transnistria in a vehicle with diplomatic license plates.
Russia has dismissed the accusations as “unfounded and unacceptable.”
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has also accused the Kremlin of attempting to destabilize Moldova’s parliamentary elections through “illegal financing of parties, organizing paid protests, and cyberattacks,” she told Radio Moldova.
Authorities say Russia has funneled “massive flows of illegal money” into Moldova since September 2022, initially through smuggling and cryptocurrencies, and later via an unnamed Russian bank under international sanctions.
Last year, an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) exposed Russian-backed efforts—allegedly supported by Shor—to influence Moldova’s political landscape, including paying voters to oppose EU membership.
