Vadim Krasnoselski will be barred from leaving Moldova for five years if he returns to the country. The authorities in Chișinău made the announcement after the leader of the self-proclaimed region received an award from Vladimir Putin and declared that Transnistria is part of the Russian world.
Vasile Tofan said on Thursday that Moscow wanted to lure Moldova into a trap, while Vadim Krasnoselski sought to portray himself as a victim so he could then ask Vladimir Putin for asylum, Zona de Securitate reports. Officials in Chișinău say the separatist leader is believed to still be in the Russian capital.
“We took a different, asymmetrical approach, telling him: Mr. Krasnoselski, please return to Tiraspol if you care so much about what you have—or have not—achieved there. Comrade Krasnoselski is welcome to return to Tiraspol, but he must be prepared to stay put for five years and enjoy the fruits of his administration’s recent work,” said Moldova’s prime minister.
The prime minister offered no details on the legal basis for the restriction or how it would be enforced, given that Vadim Krasnoselski does not hold Moldovan citizenship.
“Russia wants to provoke us; it is setting a trap for us. Comrade Krasnoselski has already made plans to stay in Russia with his family, because it is not the comforts of Tiraspol he wants, but those of Moscow. And they are encouraging us to ban him from entering the country so that he has an excuse: ‘Look, I’m not going to Moldova because they won’t let me in,’” Vasile Tofan added.
As previously reported, on November 4, 2026, Vladimir Putin presented Vadim Krasnoselski with an award for strengthening national unity. The constitutional authorities say he allegedly traveled to Moscow on the pretext of negotiating a gas purchase contract for the Transnistrian region.