MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The wife of a Russian serviceman from the Russian peacekeeping force in Transnistria, who has been brought back home in a prisoner exchange, was convicted on a trumped-up bribery charge in Moldova, a Federal Security Service (FSB) officer said in a video released by the agency.

"The wife of a Russian service member was detained by officers of Moldova’s Security and Intelligence Service at Chisinau Airport on July 3, 2025, after she arrived in the country to meet with her husband. She was falsely charged with bribing a border service officer and eventually sentenced to a year in prison and a fine of <...> about $12,000," he said.

In addition, according to the FSB officer, in March 2026, the Russian national was unreasonably charged with espionage under Article 338 of the Moldovan Criminal Code.

The FSB reported earlier that Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin and the wife of a Russian serviceman had been exchanged for two Moldovan intelligence officers. Their release was the result of a multi-stage operation the FSB carried out together with Belarus’ State Security Committee (KGB).