Following the emergence of new investigative data, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu revoked the pardon that had been granted in 2022 to Mykola Shepel, a former convict in Russia. New data from investigators indicate that he may have been involved in organizing murders-for-hire of Ukrainian public and political figures.
As part of the investigation into planned murders-for-hire of Ukrainian public and political figures in Moldova, four people were detained. Among those detained is Mykola Shepel, whom President Sandu pardoned in 2022. On the eve of these developments, the head of state revoked her decree after new circumstances emerged.
In 2017, he was convicted in Russia to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking in especially large quantities, and was subsequently transferred to Moldova to serve his sentence.
In 2021, he addressed the President of Moldova with a request for a pardon, and, on the basis of the Commission on Pardons’ recommendations, received the decree in 2022.
According to investigators, Shepel belonged to a criminal network that was preparing murders-for-hire of Ukrainian public figures. According to investigators, the scheme’s organizer was a 34-year-old Moldovan citizen, recruited in a Russian prison, who in December 2025 began preparations for the killings.
“At the initial stage of the preparation, the detainee was to persuade two Moldovan citizens to travel to Kyiv for reconnaissance. There, under the guise of couriers, they collected information about potential targets”
– Prosecutor’s Office
Several people from Chisinau, Comrat, Orhei, and Bender were drawn into the scheme.
The Commission on Pardons in 2022, which included lawyers and members of parliament, recommended issuing the decree. The head of the commission, Ion Guzun, later said that he had recused himself from considering Shepel’s petition, and that all questions regarding his pardon should be referred to the commission.
The president’s press service emphasizes that revoking the decree reflects the need to respond to new facts and to preserve trust in the pardoning institute, since the previous decision no longer aligns with the new information about Shepel’s potential criminal activity.
The National Police warned of a series of high-profile killings.
According to investigators, on February 20, Ukrainian and Moldovan law enforcement uncovered an organized group that, according to the investigators, was preparing killings of well-known Ukrainians and foreigners for the orders of Russian security services. Among the potential targets was Andriy Yusov, the spokesperson for strategic communications at the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense.
According to the investigation, the organizer and coordinator of this intelligence-and-combat group was a 34-year-old Moldovan citizen, who had previously served a sentence in Russia, who had been recruited by Russian security services. After returning to Moldova, he supported a pro-Russian faction whose activities were aimed at destabilizing the country and organizing mass protests in 2022–2023.