By Alexander Tanas
CHISINAU, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Voters in Moldova's restive, pro-Russian Gagauzia region were electing a new regional leader and legislature on Sunday after the previous leader, Evgenia Gutul, was jailed for electoral fraud.
Eight candidates were vying in early elections for the position of bashkan, or leader, of Gagauzia, a region in Moldova's south inhabited mainly by ethnic Turks who adhere to Orthodox Christianity and generally favour close ties with Russia.
Gutul last year was given a sentence of seven years in prison on charges of illegally channelling money from Russia to finance a political party that former Soviet Moldova says was a front for Russian meddling. Gutul regularly visited Moscow while in office.
Russia has long denounced Gutul's sentencing and incarceration and accused Moldova's pro-European authorities of suppressing opposition.
Two candidates, both lawyers and seen as pro-Russian, are seen as frontrunners. Fiodor Gagauz represents the pro-Russian Socialist Party. Alexandr Stoianoglo ran against Moldovan President Maia Sandu in her successful 2024 reelection campaign.
Gagauzia, which secured autonomy after the collapse of Soviet rule, has a history of opposition to authorities in Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries lying between Ukraine and European Union member Romania.
Sandu's government, which hopes to secure EU membership by 2030, has fiercely opposed Russia's war in Ukraine and accuses Moscow of interfering in its affairs.
Moldova also tackles separatist sentiment in the Transdniestria region on the Ukrainian border, where pro-Russian forces proclaimed an independent state in 1990, when Moldova was still a Soviet republic.
Transdniestria's self-styled president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, returned to Moldova on Sunday after receiving a state award in Moscow from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan said has the incident showed that Russia was trying to provoke his country. Government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici issued a statement saying that Krasnoselsky would be barred from leaving the country for five years.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Will Dunham)