CHISINAU. Oct 4 (Interfax) - The number of Moldovan citizens wishing to return home from Russia has grown amid the declaration of partial mobilization in Russia, Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said.
"An increasing number of Moldovans wish to return home from Russia amid the declaration of partial mobilization. As the mobilization campaign began, we announced that the Moldovan consulate in Moscow would be open on weekends to cope with the increased number of requests for travel documents. This is a matter of large numbers of people who have no IDs for various reasons or whose passports have expired," Popescu said.
"Things are more difficult for those who also have Russian citizenship and are staying in the territory of Russia. While staying in the Russian territory and being Russian citizens, they have to comply with laws of the country of residence, including, in the case of mobilization. Moldovan citizens who have been naturalized by Russia and are residing in Russia may be mobilized," Popescu said.
Chisinau has no information about either recruitment of Moldovan citizens to the Russian army or their enrollment by contract, Popescu said. "We do not have aggregate data of the sort for now. Please note that it is illegal to hire Moldovan citizens for participation in combat operations," he said.
According to Moldovan border guards, over 2,000 Russian citizens, many of whom are also citizens of Moldova, have arrived in Moldova within ten days since September 21.
The number of Moldovan citizens who live and work in Russia has been steadily declining over the past ten years. Slightly more than 600,000 Moldovan citizens were staying in Russia at the beginning of 2014. The number decreased to approximately 150,000 at the beginning of 2021, and about 75,000 Moldovan citizens, most of whom are also citizens of Russia, were in Russia by February 2022.