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Tajik man in fatal shooting at Moldova airport wanted for kidnapping

Chief suspect in a shootout in Moldova's main international airport remained in a coma, Moldovan authorities say, adding that the man was wanted in Tajikistan for the abduction of a bank officer.

AP

Officials said the shooting suspect became agitated while being questioned over his reasons for visiting Moldova. He briefly took hostages before being apprehended. (AP Photo)

A Tajikistan national who fatally shot two security officers at Moldova’s main international airport is wanted in his native country in relation to the kidnapping of a Tajik bank official, authorities have said.

On Saturday, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Tajikistan named the assailant as Rustam Ashurov, and alleged he was a member of an “organised criminal group” that kidnapped the deputy chairman of a bank in Dushanbe, the Central Asian country's capital, on June 23.

The prosecutor’s office said Ashurov, 43, a resident of Dushanbe, fled to Moldova after a criminal investigation was launched “with the aim of going into hiding in EU countries.”

After arriving at Chisinau International Airport on Friday, he was denied entry into the country and grabbed a guard’s weapon as he was being escorted away by officials, according to authorities.

He fatally shot two security officers. One traveler was also wounded in the attack.

Ashurov sustained serious injuries and was hospitalised after special forces intervened to subdue him, Moldova’s acting prosecutor general, Ion Munteanu, said after the incident.

He told reporters on Saturday that his office filed a criminal case for “murder with aggravating circumstances” and said, “no case (has been) initiated for terrorism.”

“The reason for the detention at the border was that the person could not clearly explain the reason for arrival and the purpose of being in the territory of the Republic of Moldova," Munteanu said, adding that the General Prosecutor’s Office “is in continuous discussions” with authorities in Tajikistan.

Man denied entry into Moldova shoots dead two people at airport

Impacts of conflict in Ukraine

Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, identified the people killed on Friday as a border police officer and an airport security employee.

The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, told reporters on Saturday that “police exchanged fire with the attacker” during the incident, which unfolded at 5:13 pm local time (1413 GMT).

Moldovan politician Dragos Galbur said on social media on Friday that the suspect had received some 10 gunshot wounds and had undergone surgery.

Officials said the Chisinau airport, now used frequently by Ukrainian passengers because of Russia's 16-month offensive on their country, was back to normal operations.

Asked on Friday if Ashurov had connections to Russian mercenary group Wagner, Cernauteanu said there was no evidence that the suspect “has relationships with military or paramilitary structures” and he was not listed in any international search system.

Since the war in Ukraine began, neighbouring Moldova — a country with a population of about 2.6 million people, and a European Union candidate since June 2022 — has faced a long list of crises.

Moldova’s leaders have also repeatedly accused Moscow of conducting campaigns to try to destabilise the country, which, like Tajikistan, was a Soviet republic until 1991.