Russian security services said on Thursday that they have arrested a Russian national for allegedly spying for Moldova, as relations between the two countries take a turn for the worse.
Moldova’s Information and Security Service said it “rejects the accusations made by the authorities of the Russian Federation.”
The two countries have expelled each other’s diplomats in recent years and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has caused alarm in Chișinău, while Moldova’s aim of joining the European Union has upset Moscow.
“In December 2025, a Russian citizen arrived in Moscow to carry out an assignment on behalf of the Information and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova,” Russia’s FSB security service said in a statement.
He was arrested and is now facing up to eight years in jail, it added.
Moldova’s Information and Security Service told local media it “rejects the accusations made by the authorities of the Russian Federation.”
“Such statements represent an attempt to manipulate public opinion and raise tensions in the region,” it said.
Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu, who has repeatedly accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country which lies between Ukraine and Romania. She slammed the accusations as “false.”
“Unfortunately there are several cases when our citizens are arrested and imprisoned without any real grounds for such actions from Moscow,” she said at a press conference.
Earlier this week, Moldova launched an official procedure to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a Russia-led community of the former Soviet republics.
Moscow described Moldova’s pro-EU course as “destructive”.
Moldova has repeatedly accused Moscow of seeking to interfere in government institutions and elections.
The Kremlin has dismissed allegations of interference in Moldova as anti-Russian “hysteria”.
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