The unnamed diplomat is expelled in protest against the opening of six polling stations in the separatist region.
Moldova expelled a Russian diplomat over the opening of polling stations for Russian presidential elections in the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova.
Relations are increasingly strained between Russia and Moldova, whose pro-Western government has strongly opposed Russia's war in neighboring Ukraine.
Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador, Oleg Vasnetsov, to protest against the Kremlin's decision to open six polling stations in Transnistria “contrary to the position of the Moldovan authorities,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Tuesday.
He said he informed Vasnetsov that an unnamed embassy worker was a “collaborator” who was declared persona non grata and had to leave the country.
Vasnetsov said Moscow would respond to Moldova and described the embassy worker's expulsion as a hostile act, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
The Russian presidential election took place from Friday to Sunday and incumbent Vladimir Putin won, as expected, by a landslide in a vote that was criticized as illegitimate by many in the international community.
Moldovan officials have repeatedly accused Russia of waging a “hybrid war” against them by funding anti-government protests, meddling in local elections, waging disinformation campaigns and sabotaging Moldova's efforts to become a member of the European Union.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said at a news conference on Monday that Russia's move was disrespectful to Moldova's sovereignty.
“We don't want a relationship with a regime that kills innocent people every day,” Sandu said of relations with Russia.
Pro-Russian forces in Transnistria declared the region an independent state after a brief war in the early 1990s.
No United Nations member country recognizes it, including Russia, but Moscow maintains close ties to the region, which is home to some 220,000 Russian citizens. Russia maintains around 1,500 troops in the breakaway state, protecting arsenals of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition.
