The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chișinău has declared three Russian diplomats persona non grata after members of the diplomatic mission allegedly helped MP Alexandr Nesterovschi, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison, evade justice by fleeing to the Transnistrian region. According to the IPN news agency, the individuals in question are Russia’s Co-Chair of the Joint Control Commission (JCC), Alexandr Andreev, Attaché Andrey Voshchinkin, and Counselor Alexei Kurochkin.
Andreev was accredited in the Republic of Moldova on February 17, 2022 — just one week before Russia invaded Ukraine. According to Radio Free Europe, although Andreev claims on social media that he graduated from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, a photo published by his mother shows him wearing the uniform of the Russian Army’s Communications Forces, which are subordinate to the General Staff.
In May 2023, Andreev publicly intervened in defense of a Russian commander stationed in the Security Zone, who had been fined by Moldovan police for wearing the Saint George ribbon — a symbol banned by Moldovan law.
After Chișinău decided in July 2023 to reduce the number of Russian diplomatic personnel, Andreev warned that such a measure could pose risks to peacekeeping efforts.
The second expelled diplomat is Andrey Voshchinkin, who was accredited in November 2023, immediately following the mass expulsion of embassy staff ordered by Moldova’s MFA in the wake of a scandal involving antennas on the roof of the Russian Embassy building. He currently holds the position of attaché at the embassy. Prior to his assignment in Moldova, he served as an attaché at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office in Geneva. According to IPN sources, Voshchinkin is responsible for several key technical and ICT operations at the embassy.
The third expelled diplomat is Alexei Kurochkin, a counselor at the Russian Embassy. In August 2022, alongside several current and former MPs from the Socialist Party (PSRM) — including Adrian Lebedinschi, Vladimir Odnostalco, and Oleg Cuciuc — Kurochkin took part in a reburial ceremony for the remains of 16 Soviet soldiers who died during World War II.
