Moldova expels 3 Russian diplomats, Moscow vows to retaliate

Moldova has expelled three Russian diplomats from the country.

This comes after they accused the Russian embassy of helping a pro-Kremlin lawmaker escape imprisonment.

Modolva's decision has led to Russia declaring it will mount an “appropriate response”;.

Moldova’s Foreign Ministry ordered the Russian embassy employees to leave the country on Monday.

In a message on Telegram, it explained that its decision was “based on clear evidence on the conduct of activities contrary to the diplomatic status”;.

The move provoked an immediate response from Moscow, with Russia’s Foreign Ministry announcing it would hit back, according to a report by state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

The diplomatic spat arose after Moldova accused the Russian embassy on Monday of engineering the escape of a pro-Kremlin Moldovan lawmaker to the Russian-backed breakaway Transnistria region just as he was about to be jailed over illegal political funding charges.

The case of Alexander Nesterovschii is the latest in which Moldova’s pro-European government has accused Russia of meddling in its political landscape, allegations that Moscow denies.

Moldova’s security service published a video footage which allegedly showed Nesterovschii entering the Russian Embassy in Chisinau on March 18, a day before a court sentenced him to 12 years in jail.

The lawmaker has denied charges of illegally channelling money to a pro-Russian party associated with fugitive businessman Ilan Shor at local elections in 2023, as well as the 2024 presidential vote and a national referendum on Moldova’s EU aspirations.

Moldova’s security service claims that on the day of his sentencing, Nesterovschii was taken in a car with diplomatic plates to the Transnistria region.

The Transnistria region broke away from Moldovan control in the early 1990s.

In a statement, the Russian embassy said the allegations of interference in the lawmaker’s case were unfounded and unacceptable. It called on the Moldovan authorities to “refrain from provocative speculation”;.