Embassy in Moldova Embassy ● Roster captured ● host list

IPN reported on February 20th that “the former employee of the Border Police and his wife, accused of espionage in favor of the Russian Federation, are being investigated while at liberty. Igor Ivanita was detained in the summer of 2024 in the same case in which the former head of the Legal Department of the Parliament, Ion Creanga, is also accused, reports IPN. At the last court hearing of the Ivanita spouses, a witness was heard, and the examination of the prosecution’s evidence was completed. The court is set to proceed with the examination of the defense’s evidence. The next hearing is scheduled for March 2. The Ivanita spouses are being tried for espionage in the interest of the Russian Federation. The case is part of the same criminal cause in which the former head of the Legal Department at Parliament, Ion Creanga, and Dmitri Kelov, former Russian diplomat and assistant to the military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Moldova, are also targeted. According to the investigation, Igor Ivanita, being an employee of the General Inspectorate of Border Police, would have transmitted to Kelov information regarding the movements of certain individuals. His wife is accused of complicity. She is suspected of having assisted her husband in the process of collecting and transmitting information to the Russian services.”

Moldova1 reported on March 10th that “the decision was made on February 24. The information was confirmed to Teleradio-Moldova by Creangă’s lawyer, Gheorghe Ionaș. According to Ionaș, the request for house arrest was granted due to factors such as Creangă’s advanced age and the stage of the ongoing investigation. “House arrest was applied starting from February 24. The court considered Creangă’s advanced age, the stage of the criminal proceedings, and the absence of risks that he might interfere with the legal process when deciding on the preventive measure,” said Gheorghe Ionaș. The suspended chief of Parliament’s legal service, Ion Creangă, was detained in July 2024 on suspicion of covert communication with a former employee of the Russian Embassy in Chișinău. He is accused of passing on classified information regarding national defense, Moldova’s cooperation with international security partners, and other sensitive topics. According to the PCCOCS (Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases), Creangă was allegedly caught red-handed receiving $500 from an embassy representative. During a search of his residence, authorities found another $1,100. In the same case, a suspended Border Police officer is also under investigation, suspected of having had repeated covert meetings with the same Russian diplomat. His wife is also being investigated for allegedly facilitating communication between the officer and the embassy employee. Creangă maintains his innocence and refuses to make public statements. If found guilty, he faces a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years.”

The Moscow Times reported on August 1st that “Moldova on Thursday declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Chisinau as persona non grata, in the second espionage case to emerge in the country in recent weeks. The move came after prosecutors on Wednesday announced the detention of two officials suspected of treason and conspiring against the country. They did not identify the officials by name, but media reports said one is the head of the legal department in parliament, while the other worked for the country’s border police. The two had “communicated” with an employee of an embassy in Chisinau since 2023, according to the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases, which did not identify the country involved. Prosecutors added that one of the two Moldovan officials allegedly collected and gave the embassy employee “information to be used against the interests of the Republic of Moldova.” On Thursday morning, Russian ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov was summoned to the Moldovan foreign ministry over the decision to expel the Russian diplomat “as a result of specific activities… incompatible with diplomatic status,” according to a ministry statement. Vasnetsov told local media that “very unfriendly” actions had led to a further reduction in embassy personnel with “few diplomats left.” Earlier, the Russian embassy denounced “artificially fuelled anti-Russian tensions”. Asked about the case on Wednesday, President Maia Sandu told local media that “the most important thing now is to make sure that this example of treason is sanctioned in the harshest way, as the law says.” It is the second espionage case involving Russia in recent weeks.”

United 24 Media reported on July 31st that “Moldovan authorities initiated a search operation at the country’s Parliament building on Wednesday, July 31. According to the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), the operation is linked to a criminal case overseen by the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS). “Currently, procedural actions are underway in a criminal case led by PCCOCS prosecutors,” stated SIS spokesperson Daniela Mînzat. “We will provide further details later today,” she added. PCCOCS spokesperson Emil Gaitur confirmed the operation. Unnamed sources within the SIS revealed to Free Europe that the investigation centers on an alleged espionage case, potentially targeting the head of Parliament’s Legal Department, Ion Creangă. These sources claimed that Creangă was caught in the act of transmitting information to employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau. Another Moldovan news outlet Agora.md, citing their own sources, reported that Creangă and another civil servant were detained for 72 hours. Official confirmation of the espionage allegations would mark the second such case in Moldova within two months. In June, investigative journalists asserted that former Chief of the General Staff Igor Gorgan regularly relayed information to Russia regarding Moldova’s internal political situation and Ukrainian military equipment purchases. The PCCOCS opened a criminal case concerning the transmission of national defense-related data. Gorgan denies all charges and remains under investigation.”

TASS reported on September 7th that “an inquiry into alleged espionage by the Russian Embassy in Chisinau, published in Moldova, is fake news, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. “The purpose of similar ‘espionage inquiries’ is well-known. They constitute [an example of] disinformation, presented as a set of unsubstantiated accusations, and are characterized by doublespeak and deliberate misinterpretations,” she said.”

Russia Today (RT) reported on November 17th that “the spokesman of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Grosu, announced additional powers for the intelligence and security service of the republic as part of the fight against “Russian spies”, which, according to him, are many in the country. “One of these days, a new version of the law on the intelligence and security service will be registered, which will provide additional, new tools for the service to fight against “agents”, against Russian spies with which the country is full,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying , citing a speech on the air of the TV channel Journal TV. The Moldovan politician also expressed dissatisfaction with the refusal of the Socialist Party deputies to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine. According to Grosu, in the future it is planned to propose amendments to the legislation regarding the betrayal of the Motherland and actions in the interests of other countries to the detriment of Moldova. Earlier, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry announced that one of the employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau was declared persona non grata. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian side declared persona non grata an employee of the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow.”