The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova announced the expulsion of three employees of the Russian Embassy. This happened after the country’s Information and Security Service announced the involvement of diplomats in the escape from justice of the pro-Russian parliament member Oleksandr Nesterovsky. informs NewsMaker.
“The decision of the authorities of Moldova is based on clear evidence of activities contrary to diplomatic status”, – says the official statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on March 31.
On the same day, Oleh Ozerov, the appointed ambassador of Russia to Moldova, was summoned to the ministry in Chisinau. This happened after the statement of the director of the Information and Security Service, Aleksandr Mustyatsa, who said that the authorities have “confirmed information” about the participation of diplomats in facilitating the escape of Nesterovsky. After the expulsion of diplomats, 6 diplomatic and 15 technical workers will remain in the Russian embassy in Chisinau. In response to Moldova’s actions, Russia said it was preparing retaliatory measures.
According to the Moldovan authorities, on March 19, representatives of the Russian diplomatic mission took Nesterovsky to Transnistria in a car with diplomatic license plates. On the same day, the court sentenced the deputy to 12 years of imprisonment for passive corruption and creating conditions for illegal financing of political power. A few hours before the meeting, Vladimir Putin offered Nesterovsky Russian citizenship, citing the fact that he was persecuted by the Moldovan authorities.
The director of the Information and Security Service called the actions of Russian diplomats “hybrid actions against the Republic of Moldova.” Instead, the Russian embassy rejected all accusations, calling the statements of the head of the special service “unfounded” and “unacceptable”.
Criminal proceedings against Nesterovskyi were opened in 2023. According to the prosecutor’s office, he received at least $35,000 from fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor in exchange for leaving the Socialist Party and joining the Renaissance party. According to the investigation, Nesterovsky received $5,000 a month for seven months.
