Moscow is calling on Chișinău to release Evghenia Guțul, who was sentenced to seven years for illegally financing the Șor Party

Moscow has called on the authorities in Chișinău to release Evghenia Guțul, the former governor of the Gagauzia autonomous region, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence. The request was made by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a statement about the conditions for normalizing relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation.

Peskov said that Moldovan authorities should abandon what Moscow calls “Russophobia,” release political prisoners and declare their interest in building good relations with Russia. He specifically cited the case of Evghenia Guțul, whom he described as a mother of two and whose release, in his view, should be ordered on humanitarian grounds.

Guțul was sentenced in August 2025 for complicity in the illegal financing of the former Șor Party, an organization declared unconstitutional. Prosecutors argued that, between 2019 and 2022, she helped bring undeclared money into the Republic of Moldova from an organized criminal group. The former governor denies the allegations and says the case is politically motivated.