The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on Chisinau to free Russian citizens Aleksei Kochetkov and Vladimir Lebedkin, who were detained in Moldova on 10 July during a brawl and sentenced the same day to seven and 13 days behind bars, respectively, for breaking registration rules. The two Russians were reportedly members of a CIS mission to monitor the mayoral election in Chisinau on 10 July. Moldova's Central Election Commission said the CIS mission was not allowed to monitor the vote.
