The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau ordered the expulsion of three Russian diplomats from the Republic of Moldova after embassy staff helped MP Alexandr Nesterovschi escape justice. A court sentenced Nesterovschi to 12 years in prison. According to Deschide.MD sources, the expelled diplomats include two advisers and an attaché from the embassy.
The co-chair of the Joint Control Commission, Alexandr Andreev, appears among the expelled diplomats. Russia’s designated ambassador, Oleg Ozerov, confirmed this information.
Andreev received accreditation in the Republic of Moldova on February 17, 2022, just a week before Russia invaded Ukraine. He claims on social media that he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry. However, his mother posted a photo presenting him wearing the Communications Forces uniform under the General Staff of the Russian Army.
In May 2023, Andreev publicly defended a Russian commander in the Security Zone after Moldovan police sanctioned him for wearing the Saint George ribbon, a symbol banned by Moldovan law.
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In July 2023, Chisinau decided to reduce Russian diplomatic personnel. Andreev warned that this measure could risk maintaining peace.
Andrei Voscinchin, the second expelled diplomat, received accreditation in November 2023.
He currently serves as an attaché at the embassy. Before arriving in Moldova, he worked as an attaché at Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
Alexei Kurocikin, the third expelled diplomat, is an adviser at the Russian Embassy. In August 2022, he joined several former and current PSRM deputies, including Adrian Lebedinschi, Vladimir Odnostalco, and Oleg Cuciuc, at a reburial ceremony for 16 Soviet soldiers who died during World War II.
In May 2023, Kurocikin attended a “cultural-educational evening” organized by the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Moldova. The event marked the 175th anniversary of Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov’s birth. During the gathering, Kurocikin read a greeting message from Russia’s former ambassador to Chisinau, Oleg Vasnetsov.
Three diplomats must leave Moldova after Alexandr Nesterovschi fled to the left bank of the Nistru River with the help of Russian embassy representatives. The convicted politician reportedly traveled to the Transnistrian region in an embassy minibus, avoiding checks at control points.
A court sentenced Nesterovschi to 12 years in prison for participating in the illegal financing of political parties secretly controlled by Ilan Shor. His legislative colleague, Irina Lozovan, also disappeared. She must serve six years in prison, and some reports suggest she also remains in the Transnistrian region.