As part of a 5-for-5 exchange between Belarus and Poland, Moldova handed over Alexandru Balan, a former deputy head of Moldova’s Information and Security Service, to Belarus.
Balan was detained in Romania in 2025. On April 15, a Moldovan court sentenced him in absentia to 1.5 years in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets. On April 24, he was extradited from Romania to Moldova.
Before being transferred to Belarus, Moldovan President Maia Sandu pardoned Balan. Moldova also handed over Russian citizen Nina Popova to Russia.
As part of the exchange, two officers of Moldova’s Information and Security Service, who had been convicted of espionage in Russia, returned to Moldova. Russia’s FSB, in turn, said they were exchanged for Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin and the wife of a Russian serviceman stationed in Transnistria.
“This operation lasted many months under the coordination of the Information and Security Service, and some details could not be disclosed so as not to jeopardise the entire operation and the lives of two Moldovan citizens.
To bring them home, as a result of a complex operation, two officers were exchanged, as required by the other side, for two other individuals: Russian Federation citizen Nina Popova, who acted against the State of the Republic of Moldova, and Alexandru Balan, a citizen of the Republic of Moldova accused of treason in the interests of the Belarusian KGB, who was pardoned to allow him to leave for Belarus,” Sandu said (quote via Unimedia).
Sandu thanked US President Donald Trump, as well as Poland and Romania, for the successful operation.
Alexandru Balan was detained in Romania in September 2025 as part of a joint operation by the security services of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. He was reported to have been working for the Belarusian KGB since 2024 and to have passed information that could threaten Romania’s national security. As part of the same operation, a Belarusian KGB officer was expelled from the Czech Republic after operating under diplomatic cover. In Romania, Balan was under investigation on treason charges. After the Moldovan court’s in absentia sentence, he was extradited to Moldova.
It is recalled that the exchange took place on April 28 at the Pererov–Belovezha checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border. Belarus handed over five individuals to Poland who had been convicted in Belarus and Russia on espionage charges. Among those released was Belarusian political prisoner and journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
