A court in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, has ordered preventive custody for one of the two suspects detained on July 31 in a case of treason and conspiracy that has also led to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat.
Ion Creanga, the head of the Parliament's legal department, will spend the next 30 days in custody, the court ruled on August 2.
Creanga and a border police official were detained when agents of Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) raided and searched the parliament premises on July 31.
They are accused of collecting and passing information that harms Moldova's interests to an employee of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau.
Judges have yet to rule on the prosecutors' request to place the second suspect in pretrial custody for 30 days as well. Under Moldovan law, suspects can be detained for 72 hours without a court order.
Following the arrests, Moldova's Foreign Ministry on August 1 summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov and informed him that an employee of the Russian Embassy to Chisinau was declared persona non grata and had 48 hours to leave the country.
The ministry said in a statement that the move was prompted by Moldovan authorities obtaining "information and evidence" proving that the Russian diplomat conducted "activities incompatible with diplomatic status on the territory of Moldova."
Neither the Moldovan government nor Vasnetsov identified the Russian diplomat to be expelled. But diplomatic and intelligence sources told RFE/RL that he is Dmitry Kelov, the deputy military attache at the embassy.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called Moldova's decision an "unfriendly step" and vowed to retaliate, without giving details.
"It is paramount that we make sure now that this treason case will be punished in the harshest way according to the law," Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said in an interview with Moldova's Jurnal TV late on July 31.
Under U.S.-educated Sandu, who came to power in November 2020 after defeating Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon, Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has sought to curb Russia's decades-long ubiquitous influence over its politics.
Last year in August, Moldova expelled 45 of the 70 Russian diplomats from the embassy in Chisinau after a media investigation revealed that the embassy building had an unusually high number of antennas installed on its roof that were suspected of gathering information for Russian intelligence services.
However, despite the sizeable expulsions, an RFE/RL investigation in September 2023 found that at least two of the remaining diplomats have ties to the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's domestic intelligence agency, while two others have been associated with Moscow addresses linked to the Russian military's intelligence directorate.
Since the start of Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova has sided firmly with the West in condemning the invasion and has housed tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Last month, Moldova opened accession negotiations with the European Union after being granted candidate status together with Ukraine in June 2022.