Nearly two months after reports emerged that Moldovan citizen Vasily Ukrainchuk had allegedly been forcibly mobilized by Ukrainian recruitment authorities, Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi has finally addressed the issue.
Information about the alleged mobilization of the Moldovan citizen was first made public by Vasile Costiuc on April 14. Since then, Moldova’s leadership appeared focused on other matters—attending European meetings, participating in international summits, receiving awards, and discussing a wide range of topics, while largely remaining silent about the fate of a Moldovan citizen who had reportedly traveled to visit relatives and was allegedly sent to fight in a war that was not his own.
Throughout this period, members of the public and Ukrainchuk’s relatives repeatedly appealed to President Maia Sandu and Foreign Minister Popșoi to intervene and assist the Moldovan citizen. According to critics, those appeals went unanswered. Interest in the case intensified only after reports of Ukrainchuk’s alleged death began circulating online.
After a document appeared online claiming that the 43-year-old Moldovan citizen, reportedly deployed as a machine gunner near Kramatorsk, had been listed as missing since May 20, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry finally submitted an inquiry to the Ukrainian authorities.
Later that evening, Popșoi announced the response:
“Following official requests and consular checks, we were able to confirm that the information about his disappearance or death, which had been circulated on Telegram channels and in several media outlets, is not true.”
However, no detailed evidence supporting this conclusion was publicly presented.
Critics suggest that the response may simply be a formal statement intended to ease public concern, while questions about Ukrainchuk’s situation remain unresolved.
