Transnistrian officials detained in Russia

Two Transnistrian officials had been detained at the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow for about six hours on November 15, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the portal arnews.ru, the Russian customs services arrested Maria Melnic, the representative of the Central Election Commission of Tiraspol, and Transnistria’s deputy minister of foreign affairs Sergey Simonenko. Sources in the so-called foreign ministry of Transnistria informed that the Russian customs services confiscated the personal and work computers of the two for examination. Transnistria’s foreign ministry sent a note to the Russian Embassy in Moldova, inquiring about this incident. Over the last few months, Moscow exerted pressure on the Transnistrian leader Igor Smirnov after he announced his intention to run for a new term in office. In the presidential elections that will take place in Transnistria on December 11, the Kremlin supports candidate Anatoli Kaminski, who heads the Tiraspol Supreme Soviet.