Ukrainian MP Detained in Moldova on Belarus Warrant

The Moldovan Border Police detained lawmaker Yevhen Yakovenko, 57, from Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Sunday evening and placed him in pre-trial detention in Chisinau.

Interpol issued an international 'red notice' for Yakovenko's arrest at the request of the Belarusian authorities.

The head of the Interpol bureau in Chisinau, Viorel Tentiu, said that "the Minsk authorities accuse the Ukrainian parliamentarian of bribery and corruption and registered a request for his arrest and extradition", Interfax Ukraine reported.

The head of the Border Police, Rosian Vasiloi, told BIRN that the Moldovan force only complied with the protocol established in such situations.

"We have dozens of cases like this. There are different people wanted by various security structures via Interpol," Vasiloi said.

Yakovenko ran as a candidate for the Ukrainian parliament in 2019 as a representative of the Batikivsina party led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

However, after being elected, he sat in parliament as a non-partisan MP.

His biggest rival in the 2019 elections was the candidate of the party run by Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian oligarch who is Vladimir Putin's brother-in-law.

After the election victory, Yakovenko was accused by Medvedchuk's team of falsifying election results and bribing voters.

Medvedchuk went into hiding after being accused of treason when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, but he was captured and last week was charged with assisting Moscow in the war. He denies the allegation.