Top Moldovan intelligence official handed names of Romanian spies to Belarusian KGB
Alexandru Balan (right) was detained in Romania in September 2025 / Inquam Photos
Former deputy director of Moldovan intelligence Alexandru Balan handed the KGB the names of Romanian intelligence officers. He knew the identities of at least seven Romanian intelligence service employees operating under cover, reports the Moldovan service of Radio Free Europe.
Balan's last operation took place in Budapest in April 2025. At that time, three KGB officers — Vladimir Vorozhbitov (Uladzimir Varazhbitau), Vladimir Yarmak (Uladzimir Yarmak) and Nikolai Dukshta (Mikalai Dukshta) — also arrived in Hungary. Their names appear in Balan's criminal case.
"The first two hold diplomatic passports, while the third was accredited as an 'adviser' at the Belarusian embassy in Prague and was officially declared a representative of the Belarusian KGB in November 2024," Radio Free Europe notes. It was previously reported that in September 2025 the Czech Republic expelled a Belarusian diplomat — believed to have been Dukshta.
On April 9, KGB officers arrived at the complex where Balan was staying, but only Vorozhbitov entered the building. He remained inside for almost 11 hours. That day, Balan received 512 messages on his phone via Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp and Facebook. Balan only switched on his mobile phone around midnight and sent a message in Signal to a contact named Prod — it contained only an emoji.
In the following days, Balan connected to public Wi-Fi in Budapest 36 times, despite having mobile internet access.
After his meetings with KGB officers, he first exchanged 1,500 euros at a currency exchange, then a couple of days later exchanged another 1,400 euros and flew to Brussels. The KGB officers departed from Hungary to Austria.
After Balan's arrest, among his files investigators found a document entitled "SRI Employees 2013" containing photographs of seven undercover SRI officers. Their names are not listed, but court documents indicate that Balan knew their identities.
Balan was transferred to Belarus in April 2026 as part of an exchange, when Andrzej Poczobut was handed over to Poland.
As noted by newsmaker.md, on June 23 Moldovan President Maia Sandu stripped Balan of his Moldovan citizenship.
