ISTANBUL

Moldova said on Wednesday that it detained two government officials on suspicion of working against the country.

A statement by the Security and Intelligence Service said the two officials from the parliament and border police service were suspected of "treason and plotting" in their communications with an employee of an embassy in the capital Chisinau.

Indicating that the suspicions started in 2023, the statement said one of those detained allegedly collected and delivered information to the embassy employee concerned “to be used to the detriment of Moldova’s interests.”

The other official maintained contact with the embassy employee to collect and transmit the information for the same purpose, and acted to gain "personal benefits.”

The statement did not specify which embassy the accusations concern, though multiple local media outlets referred to Russia’s diplomatic mission.

Russia’s Embassy in Chisinau in a statement said reports surrounding the allegations are “another manifestation of the anti-Russian sentiments artificially whipped up in Moldova.”

Reminding that multiple Russian diplomats were expelled over similar accusations the previous year, the embassy claimed Moldova may be “preparing grounds” for a similar step.

“We hope that the Moldovan authorities will show common sense and refrain from making unfriendly decisions regarding the Russian diplomatic mission and its employees based on crudely fabricated fakes,” it said.

Relations between Russia and Moldova, a former republic of the Soviet Union, have deteriorated since 2003 and completely degraded since pro-Western Maia Sandu was elected president in 2020.

Sandu’s condemnation of Russia’s “special military operation” in neighboring Ukraine has further escalated tensions. She has publicly accused Moscow of attempting to orchestrate her ouster and “destabilize” Moldova. Russia has denied the claims.