CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova said on Wednesday it had detained two officials from the parliament and border police service for suspected treason and conspiring against the country, something a security source told Reuters they had done on behalf of Russia.
One suspect gathered and provided information that was to be used against Moldova's interests and the other was suspected of plotting against the country for personal gain, the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases said.
The statement said they had worked with a member of a foreign embassy in Chisinau, but it did not identify which country. It said it was investigating activities that had taken place from 2023.
A security source who asked not to be named said the suspects had been detained on Tuesday and were suspected of providing information to the Russian embassy's deputy defence attache in Chisinau.
Searches were carried out at the legal department of Moldova's parliament on Wednesday, the source added.
Moldovan news outlets had reported earlier on Wednesday about a brewing espionage case involving Russia, prompting the Russian embassy to issue a statement on its website.
In the statement, the embassy said the reports represented "yet another manifestation of anti-Russian sentiments that are artificially fostered in Moldova".
Relations between Russia and Moldova, a small ex-Soviet republic sandwiched between Ukraine and NATO member Romania, have deteriorated sharply as Chisinau has steered a pro-European course and accused Moscow of trying to destabilise it.
Moldova has strongly condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Gareth Jones)