Moldovan police have detained the leader of the country’s pro-Russian Gagauz ethnic minority region at the country’s airport, following the unexplained disappearance of two other wanted pro-Russian lawmakers.
Eugenia Gutul, the leader of the Gagauzia region is being held for 72 hours in Chisinau, anti-corruption authorities said late Tuesday.
“The action is being taken within the context of a criminal case,” Starinschi told reporters.
Gagauzia, a region of 140,000 people in southern Moldova, is populated by Christian ethnic Turks who have historically favored close ties with Russia, and have strained relations with Chisinau since Moldovan independence in 1991.
Moldova is led by President Maia Sandu, who is committed to joining the European Union by 2030. She has denounced Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine and accuses the Kremlin of trying to unseat her.
Gutul, who is staunchly anti-Sandu was elected leader of Gagauzia in 2023 with backing from fugitive business magnate Ilan Shor who was sentenced in 2023 to 15 years in prison in connection with the disappearance of $1 billion from Moldovan banks.
She has met Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin while visiting Moscow and Sandu does not recognize Gutul’s election.
Gutul is due to be sentenced soon on corruption charges and of financing a political bloc led by Shor from exile in Russia.
Her detention follows the disappearance last week of pro-Russian parliamentarian Alexandr Nesterovschi on the day he was sentenced to 12 years in prison on similar corruption charges. A second lawmaker, Irina Lozovan, awaiting a verdict on similar charges, has also vanished.
Both were associates of Shor, who is hoping to win parliamentary elections later this year.
Moldovan authorities have accused Shor of transferring large sums of money into the country to influence elections.
