Sandu Revokes Citizenship of Moldovan Who Appeared in Video with Putin

President Maia Sandu signed two decrees revoking the Moldovan citizenship as the persons in question had “committed particularly grave acts causing substantial damage to the state”. One of these persons, the pro-Russian politician Alexandr Kalinin, was much discussed in the press. However, the first decree, signed last summer, remained unknown to the public. Dmitry Miron was stripped of the Moldovan citizenship in July 2023. His name appeared in the media six months ago, when he was identified among the military officers with whom Russian President Vladimir Putin made a New Year’s speech. From carabineer in Moldova to major in the Russian army Project Evocation, a Ukrainian database of Russian “propagandists, collaborators and agents” involved in the war in Ukraine, calls Dmitry Miron a “terrorist”. Judging by his profile, Miron was born on 28 September 1993 in Moldova, did his military service in the Carabineer unit in Comrat, and left for Ukraine at the age of 19. The same source reports that Miron is currently a brigade commander in the town of Bryanka in the Luhansk region, holds the rank of major, received the “order for bravery” for his participation in the invasion of Ukraine and was declared a “hero” of the separatist Luhansk Republic. A brief biography published on lnr-news.ru confirms this military path, noting at the end that Miron was wounded during the war in Ukraine but “still serves in the Russian Armed Forces”. Miron was identified among the uniformed men who appeared behind Vladimir Putin in his televised address, broadcast on the night between 2022 and 2023. Presidential warning and two signed decrees In September 2022, President Maia Sandu warned that people who also hold the Russian citizenship might lose the Moldovan citizenship if they join the Russian army to fight in the war in Ukraine. The head of state also spoke about tougher sanctions for mercenaries. Asked by Europa Libera in January 2024, the Presidential Office said that since taking the Presidential office, Maia Sandu had signed two decrees revoking the Moldovan citizenship. In both cases, the ground was the Citizenship Law article, which states that a person “who committed particularly grave acts causing substantial damage to the state” might be relieved of the citizenship. In November 2023, the head of state also revoked the citizenship of pro-Russian politician Aleksandr Kalinin, who is being investigated by the Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office for military propaganda. Kalinin is on the list of European and Canadian sanctions for actions against Ukraine.