Behind the scenes of a prisoner exchange like in the movies. Who is the woman handed over to Russia along with the traitor Bălan
The head of the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), Alexandru Musteață, revealed the backstage of the case of Alexandru Bălan, the former deputy director of the institution convicted of espionage. Mustăță clarified that Bălan, labeled as a “traitor”, was not extradited, but voluntarily chose to go to Belarus as part of an international prisoner exchange that allowed the release of two Moldovan officers captured by the Russians. As the SIS assesses the damage caused by the leak of secret information, the head of Moldovan espionage warns that Bălan has not escaped the law in Romania, where his espionage case remains pending in the courts.
Alexandru Musteață, director of the Intelligence and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova
“Bălan was informed that the Belarusians were asking for him, he agreed and went alone”
During the interview given for the show “In Depth”, broadcast by Pro Tv Chisinau, the director of SIS said that the transfer of Bălan to Belarus, in exchange for Moldovan prisoners, was not an extradition from the Republic of Moldova, but a voluntary decision by the Republic of Moldova.
He went willingly, to be clear. There was no extradition process from Moldova to Belarus. We have no procedural-criminal relations in which there are extradited persons. He left willingly. He was informed that the Belarusians wanted him, he agreed and went alone. This is to make it very clear to everyone how it happened.
Later, the SIS director announced the statement:
Moderator: So he chose that he wanted to do this.
Alexandru Musteață: He admitted his wrongdoings so he could go.
Moderators: So he admitted to spying for Russia or Belarus though?
Alexandru Musteață: He admitted the facts incriminated in the criminal case. admitted to the prosecutor's accusations of leaking classified information, negotiated a plea agreement with the prosecutor, which was presented to the court and the court approved it, granting a certain term of prison sentence. He was later extradited. And the pardon was offered specifically for him to go to Belarus”.
The SIS director also wanted to emphasize that the criminal case opened in Romania was not closed and that Bălan did not escape legal consequences from the Romanian state.
His case in Romania is in the preliminary chamber at the Court of Appeal. That case will still be tried and the sentence will be announced. He did not escape the penalty in Romania.
“Alexandru Bălan is a traitor”
In the same interview, Musteață stated that Alexandru Bălan worked in the Intelligence and Security Service since the 2000s, going through all the hierarchical levels, up to that of deputy director of the institution, but that as of 2019 he no longer held any position.
“Alexandru Bălan is a traitor who, since 2019, no longer holds any position within the Service and no longer has access to secret information within the SIS. He was subsequently suspended from his officer status, and in 2023, after a series of internal investigations, he was permanently dismissed from the Service. His contract was permanently terminated, without establishing the special pension he was aiming for. A traitor who, by his way of exposing himself and doing certain things, raised a number of doubts within the service as far back as 2022–2023, when we began internal investigations. When we accumulated enough evidence to fire him, he was fired, but the SIS activity did not stop there. We continued the work within a counter-informative file”, said Alexandru Musteață.
The investigation into Balan's contacts with foreign special services began secretly in 2023. The SIS chief says a small team worked on the case to avoid leaks.
“Alexandru Musteata: We were documenting contacts – what we suspected at the time – with the special services of another state.
Moderator: Whose? Of Belarus or of Russia?
Alexandru Musteață: We started from certain information and certain suspicions we had. It was still not confirmed in one thread or another. But they were good enough for us to start a deeper investigation. I started this investigation with my colleagues and a very small team that kept the whole thing under wraps so that we didn't have any leaks or other operational risks. So we worked until 2025, the year in which we were also informed by the external partners that they too, in the course of an investigative process, saw your contacts with the Belarusian services. That was the moment when our effort in Moldova, which had already been around for 2 years, with those in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania, which had also been in an investigation process for almost 2 years, we united our efforts and already carried forward a criminal investigation under the coordination of Eurojust, which finally led to his apprehension in September 2025 in Romania”
Asked what was the reason why they started the internal investigation, the director of the SIS stated that he could not give too many details, because they are part of another investigation. Regarding the long duration of the investigation, Musteață said:
“We must understand that an investigation related to treason, espionage, conspiracy is an extremely complex one. (…) Bălan, when he was doing it, being a trained officer, took the necessary conspiracy measures and then this investigation took time, but it was done properly and the end-to-end documentation of his activity was successful. (…) What was confirmed, I think everyone saw how he was received in Belarus”.
The Moldovan spies released from Russia, after the exchange that also targeted Alexandru Bălan, returned to the Republic of Moldova
Alexandru Bălan at the reception in Belarus PHOTO: belta.by
The information to which Bălan had access, compromised
The Director of the Intelligence and Security Service also said that the institution is currently analyzing the impact of Bălan's activity, and the information to which he had access is treated as compromises.
Bălan worked for special services while in office and was already transmitting, respectively, the entire set of information to which he had access, in one form or another, is categorized by us as compromised information and now we are evaluating the impact of certain decisions of his, certain cases. This process is happening even now, my colleagues are working in the office,
stated the head of the SIS.
There is another file in the name of Alexandru Bălan
Alexandru Musteață also revealed that Bălan was suspended in 2019 following another file, of illegal logging, but did not provide many details.
“Alexandru Musteață: It is a criminal case, in the first instance, in the Republic of Moldova, on the exceeding of the duties of the service and illegal filing. And on that basis he was removed from office, suspended from office and cut off from all access to civil information.
Moderator: Can you give us details about this file?
Alexandru Musteață: It's a court case, so effectively I can't expose myself.
Moderators: So, I get it, but who are you looking at?
Alexandru Musteață: It was exceeding the service attributes and illegal filing. The materials are already in a criminal case pending in court. We'll let the court decide.”
About the two SIS officers brought from Russia: “They will undergo a rehabilitation procedure”
The head of the Intelligence Service of the Republic of Moldova also provided details about how the exchange of prisoners was possible. Negotiations with the FSB began in the summer, immediately after the Russian service released images of the two detained young SIS officers with their faces blurred. The negotiation process was long and complicated, with many details, and risked being compromised by leaks to an opposition MP, who made them public.
“The whole operation of freeing them, of bringing them home was a discreet one, with a good secret part – which was not discussed and not transmitted anywhere – and another part which was discussed with the family members, because we all had the same objective: to bring the boys home. The family members, being well-intentioned, but in their search to find a solution, ended up talking to several people, information later reaching the deputy, who considered it important to publish it. It wasn't the best idea for us.”
Musteata also said that the two intelligence officers had gone to Russia “in the interest of national security”, but that he could not give details.
“Our officers, two young officers, two dedicated officers, two devoted and patriotic officers, went there on a secret mission, the details of which I cannot confirm or give at all“
Why was Alexandru Bălan, the Moldovan who spied for the KGB, included in the spy exchange. Maia Sandu's explanations
The head of the SIS also specified what is happening now with the officers, a few days after they returned to the country.
“Alexandru Musteață: They are now under evaluation by doctors. They will go through a rehabilitation procedure, which has already started, to bring them back to the current activity of the Service. They continue to be officers of the Services.
Moderator: Even if we know what they look like and what they are called?
Alexandru Musteață: The service has different types of officers. They are officers that no one knows about, except maybe two people within the Service. And there are officers who have a more open and public role. They are officers, they are our colleagues, we fought to bring them home, they are brought safely. This is another message from us: no one in the Service is left behind, no one is left behind. We, for every voting officer and professional, will fight to the end.
Moderator: Can you tell us if they were subjected to inhumane treatment there in detention? What do they say? how am i
Alexandru Musteață: A detention in the Russian Federation, we all know, is not the most pleasant situation, but that's why, the first thing that happened, the doctors took them in their assessment, they pass all the tests, all the analyses, to make sure that their health is good, that it can be strengthened and that they can pass the rehabilitation successfully.”
Who is Nina Popova, the second person taught in the exchange
In addition to Alexandru Bălan, Nina Popova, a Russian citizen detained at Chisinau airport, was also handed over during the exchange for officers. Musteță clarified the circumstances:
,,Nina Popova tried to enter the Republic of Moldova presenting the legend that she was going to a friend in Transnistria, where her husband was – a GRU officer (no member of the military intelligence service of Russia). Realizing that her chances were getting darker by the minute, she tried to bribe a border officer. The officers, very good and dedicated and professional, reported the case, she was taken into custody.”
Musteata added that Popova was not only the wife of a Russian army officer illegally stationed in Transnistria, but was herself an employee of the Russian Federation Army.
