Chisinau Ready To Assist Moscow With Search For Moldovan Natives Who Escaped Russian Jail

CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2021) The Moldovan Foreign Ministry said on Friday it cannot yet confirm whether criminals who escaped earlier in the day from a temporary detention facility in the Moscow region were citizens of the republic, but expressed readiness to help Russian law enforcement officers with the search if needed.

The Moscow region prosecutor's office reported on Friday that five prisoners had escaped from a detention facility in the town of Istra. The Russian Investigative Committee said that among them was Alexander Mavridi, accused of murdering businessman Vladimir Marugov. The rest of the fugitives had theft charges.

All five escaped prisoners are native Moldovans, a source in the Russian law enforcement told Sputnik.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova found out about the escape of Moldovan natives from the isolation ward in the Moscow region from the press. We cannot yet confirm whether they are citizens of Moldova. The Embassy of Moldova in Russia launched an official request concerning the case. If necessary, Moldovan law enforcement officers will assist their Russian colleagues in finding and arresting the fugitives, " Daniel Voda, the ministry's spokesman, said.

The so-called "Sausage King" Marugov was shot with a crossbow in his bathhouse in Istra during a robbery last November. Mavridi was detained soon after as a suspect. During a search in his apartment, law enforcement officers found an elderly man handcuffed to a bed. Mavridi was then also suspected of committing fraud with the apartments of lonely people in Moscow and the Moscow region.