Moldova expels 45 Russian diplomats, embassy staff over 'unfriendly actions'.

Moldova asked 22 Russian diplomats and 23 members of the Russian embassy's technical staff to leave the country by Aug.

15, Deschide reported on July 26, citing[1] Igor Zaharov, an advisor to Moldova's foreign minister. "This decision comes as a result of numerous unfriendly actions towards the Republic of Moldova, which are not related to the diplomatic mandate, as well as attempts to destabilize the internal situation in our country," the Moldovan Foreign Ministry said[2] in its statement. While the embassy staff will not be declared as persona non grata, they will be asked to leave Moldova, Zaharov reportedly said.

Earlier on July 26, the Moldovan government declared that the Russian embassy staff will be reduced from 84 to 25, specifically to 10 diplomatic posts and 15 other positions, which amounts to almost 60 and thus more than the figure that Zaharov presented. An investigation[3] by the Russian independent outlet The Insider and the Moldovan Jurnal TV published on July 24 revealed that the Russian embassy in Chisinau has 28 "spy antennas" installed on its rooftops, likely serving to intercept signals and gather intelligence. Shortly after the investigation, Moldova's Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov.

On July 25, Moldovan President Maia Sandu commented[4] on the investigation, saying that the information is known to the security services and that details and an appropriate solution will be offered at the right time, NewsMaker reported. In spite of the incident, Moldovan authorities did name a specific reason for the staff reduction. Russia's Foreign Ministry denounced the move, promising that Chisinau's actions "will not go unanswered."

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News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press.

He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ citing (deschide.md)
2. ^ said (mfa.gov.md)
3. ^ investigation (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ commented (newsmaker.md)
5. ^ Investigative Stories from Ukraine: Russia spies in EU with its embassies' satellite dishes, media findWelcome to Investigative Stories from Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent's newsletter that walks you through the most prominent investigations of the past week.

   If you are fond of in-depth journalism that exposes war crimes, corruption and abuse of power across state organizations in Ukraine and beyond,... (kyivindependent.com)