Nearly 460 asylum seekers await decisions in Moldova
Moldovan authorities are currently processing nearly 460 asylum applications, including 88 from Ukrainian citizens, Minister of Internal Affairs Daniella Misail-Nichitin announced during an interview on Moldova 1’s current affairs show “Pe Față.”
Among the Ukrainian applicants is a man assaulted by Ukrainian border guards while attempting to swim across the Dniester River into Moldova. All requests are currently being handled by the General Inspectorate for Migration in accordance with domestic law and international conventions.
Legal scrutiny and temporary protection
Officials confirmed that one of the two asylum requests from Ukrainian nationals who swam across the border last week has been formally registered.
“In the first case, the asylum application has already been registered. It will be examined in accordance with the law,” said Internal Affairs Minister Daniella Misail-Nichitin.
Alongside formal asylum procedures, Moldova continues to implement the European-aligned temporary protection scheme for displaced persons. More than 61,000 individuals currently benefit from this status on Moldovan territory, the vast majority being Ukrainian citizens.
UNHCR figures on displaced Ukrainians
Data from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) indicates that 146,667 Ukrainian refugees remained in Moldova as of September 2026. Roughly 69% of them—amounting to 101,365 people—entered directly across the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, while 45,302 arrived via Romania or international flights.
Among those arriving directly from Ukraine, demographic records show 41,974 women, 12,820 men, 22,412 girls, and 24,159 boys, according to the UNHCR.
Cumulative statistics through September 2026 record approximately 1.4 million entries by Ukrainian nationals arriving directly from Ukraine and another 1.55 million from other nations. Over the same period, roughly 1.83 million departures toward Ukraine and 970,000 departures to other destinations were registered.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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