Moldova has expelled a Russian diplomat after debris from a Russian missile shot down by Ukrainian air defenses landed in the north of the country.
Ukraine said it was subjected to a „massive” wave of missile strikes Monday, with more than 50 cruise missiles launched at targets across the country including Kyiv’s power and water supplies.
Moldova’s interior ministry said a missile fell on the village of Naslavcea close to the Moldovan-Ukrainian border on Monday, blowing out several houses’ windows. There were no reports of injuries.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat in protest of Moscow’s „intensified attacks” on Ukraine.
These „are having severe spillover effects on Moldova, threatening our energy and human security,” he wrote on Twitter.
Russia’s Ambassador to Moldova, Oleg Vasnetsov, was summoned to the foreign ministry on Monday „and notified of our decision to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata.”
The expelled diplomat was not identified.
Russia’s foreign ministry said it would not leave the expulsion of its diplomat unanswered, state-run Russian news agencies reported.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have fled to Moldova since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
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