Shepeli, accused of recruiting assassins for Ukrainian leaders, linked to Shor: Russian funds used to corrupt Moldovan voters
Nicolae Șepeli is accused of recruiting 11 individuals to carry out attacks against Ukrainian soldiers and journalists, under the direction of Russian special services. He is believed to have ties to a network coordinated by the convicted Ilan Șor, which aimed to manipulate the elections in the Republic of Moldova.
Nicolae Șepeli was fined 25,000 lei in December 2025 for passive electoral corruption. Additionally, a phone number linked to him had over 20 connections with the Russian bank PSB, through which money was transferred to members of Ilan Șor's network, as reported by ZdG.
At the same time, some of Șepeli's close associates have been described by authorities as sympathizers or donors of political parties connected to Ilan Șor. Several of these individuals have criminal convictions or are involved in criminal cases in the Russian Federation, according to the same source.
Following a presidential pardon in 2022, Nicolae Șepeli found employment in the private sector, earning a salary from various companies in call-centre and marketing services.
Sentenced to 11 years in prison in Russia
Nicolae Şepeli, who is 31 years old, was sentenced on November 9, 2017, by the Court of Stary Oskol in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. He received an 11-year prison sentence for attempted drug trafficking on a particularly large scale. The court mandated that he serve his time in a strict regime colony, with his detention period commencing on November 9, 2017, and including the time he spent in pretrial detention beginning in April 2016.
On November 7, 2018, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova initiated proceedings to transfer him to serve the remainder of his sentence in Moldova. The Chisinau Court in Buiucani approved this transfer in February 2019.
According to ZdG, between 2019 and 2022, while in detention, Nicolae Șepeli and his lawyers lodged several court complaints. Initially, they challenged the decision regarding his transfer and later cited inhumane detention conditions.
One of Șepeli's most significant legal victories occurred in the courts of Comrat and Cimișlia. He complained about the conditions of his detention in both Russian and Moldovan prisons (Penitentiary No. 13 Chișinău and No. 3 Leova), citing overcrowding and lack of hygiene. The courts recognized a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment, and confirmed that Şepeli endured over 2,000 days in deplorable conditions. Consequently, the Cimișlia Court reduced his sentence by a total of 1,588 days, equivalent to over four years.
Stoianoglo’s letter to the Moscow Prosecutor General
In March 2021, Șepeli’s case reached the Presidency for consideration of a pardon, when the Prosecutor General’s Office, then led by Alexandr Stoianoglo, requested a review of pardons for six Moldovan citizens convicted in the Russian Federation. All these individuals had their statuses changed from "drug trafficker" to "victim of human trafficking."
Alexandr Stoianoglo later stated that he had received a summary of a case concerning several "children aged 16-18" who were allegedly tricked into going to the Russian Federation under the guise of being hired as couriers. According to Stoianoglo, these young people were unaware that they were delivering drugs and received sentences ranging from "10 to 15 years in prison."
"I wrote a letter to the Prosecutor General of Russia requesting a review of this file, as I am aware that our children do not go to Russia to distribute narcotics. Our request was rejected," Stoianoglo declared during a Parliament session on February 26.
Stoianoglo clarified that the case documents for Șepeli were submitted to the Presidency after he was "illegally removed" from office. He reiterated that the Prosecutor General’s Office had addressed the Presidency regarding the cases of "six or seven people," but ultimately, only Nicolae Shepeli was granted a pardon.
On February 19, Nicolae Shepeli was detained alongside four other individuals. Authorities announced that they had thwarted a plot to assassinate public figures in Ukraine—specifically, "more than five individuals from politics and journalism." This scheme was reportedly coordinated by Russian secret services in the Republic of Moldova.
The operation was conducted in collaboration with law enforcement in Ukraine, where seven additional Moldovans connected to the same case were also arrested.
Members of the group were promised payments of up to 100,000 lei for executing the plan.
Vladislav Cojuhari, the Minister of Justice, stated that following the revocation of Şepeli's pardon, he will serve the sentence he was convicted of in the Russian Federation. Relevant institutions are currently reviewing his case to determine the remaining period of his sentence.
