Two SIS officers held in Russia were released on 28 April as part of a broader ten-person swap at the Belarus-Poland border, coordinated by Moldovan intelligence with the support of the United States, Poland and Romania.
Two officers of Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) have returned home after being held captive in Russia, as Newsmaker reported. The SIS confirmed their safe return and published footage of their arrival, noting that the officers were accompanied by SIS director Alexandru Musteață and are now undergoing medical evaluation and reintegration procedures.
A Ten-Person Swap At The Belarus-Poland Border
The exchange took place on April 28 at the Belarus-Poland border as part of a broader ten-person swap involving multiple countries, including Russia, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. Moldova handed over two individuals: Alexandru Bălan, former deputy SIS director convicted of disclosing state secrets and acting in the interests of Belarusian intelligence, who was pardoned by President Maia Sandu to enable his transfer; and Nina Popova, a Russian citizen detained in Moldova for attempting to bribe a border officer.
Among those released on the other side was Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, a Gazeta Wyborcza correspondent who had been serving eight years in a Belarusian penal colony on charges widely condemned as politically motivated, stemming from his coverage of the 2020 anti-government protests in Belarus. Concerns had grown in recent years about his health while in detention. He was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought while behind bars. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who welcomed Poczobut at the border, said of the moment: “There were a few tough men present there, and they all had tears in their eyes.”
Also released was Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, a Hermitage Museum employee detained in Poland in December 2025 at Ukraine’s request.
The Bălan Question
The release of Bălan has drawn scrutiny. According to investigators, he met twice with Belarusian intelligence officers in Budapest in 2024 and 2025, transferring classified information in exchange for payment. He lost access to state secrets in 2019, but SIS said its investigation — launched in 2023 — continues and is focused on assessing the full damage caused by his actions, including potentially compromised operations.
Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi acknowledged the difficulty of the decision. “Priority is given to the physical integrity, well-being and security of our citizens who have not violated the law and serve Moldova,” he said, describing the trade-off as a matter of national interest.
US, Poland And Romania Credited
Sandu publicly thanked US President Donald Trump, along with Poland and Romania, for their involvement at every stage of the process, which she said had been in preparation for several months. “We brought home two citizens who work for Moldova, in exchange for two detainees who worked against Moldova,” she said. The US Embassy in Chisinau framed the result as a product of Trump’s “peace initiatives”, while Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, confirmed that three Poles and two Moldovans were among those released.
The swap is the latest in a series of US-negotiated prisoner releases that have marked a shift in relations between Minsk and the West during Trump’s second term, with Lukashenko releasing hundreds of detainees since Trump returned to the White House.
Russia’s FSB framed the Moldovan side of the exchange differently, claiming the two SIS officers had entered Russian territory in 2025 using fictitious documents to conduct intelligence activities – a characterisation Chisinau has not addressed publicly.
