Pro-Russian leader of Moldovan ethnic minority detained

FILE PHOTO: Leader of Moldova's Gagauzia region Yevgenia Gutsul (Eugenia Gutul) speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Russia, April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

CHISINAU (Reuters) - Police in ex-Soviet Moldova detained the leader of the country's pro-Russian Gagauz ethnic minority at Chisinau's international airport late on Tuesday, following the unexplained disappearance of two other wanted pro-Russian lawmakers.

Eugenia Gutul, the leader, or bashkan, of Gagauzia, was being held for 72 hours in the capital, said Angela Starinschi, an official with Moldova's Anti-Corruption Centre.