Moldova protests Ukrainian pursuit of man on Dniester

The Moldovan authorities officially expressed dissatisfaction to Kyiv over an incident on the Dniester River. The cause was that two representatives of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine pursued a citizen and illegally crossed the state border.

This was reported by Lilian Carp, head of the parliamentary committee on national security, defence and public order of the Republic of Moldova, during an appearance on Radio Moldova.

Incident at the border

Events unfolded on 15 October near the village of Holosnitsa in Soroca district. According to local sources, a 49-year-old man from Kyiv attempted to swim across the Dniester. A pursuit was launched by two Ukrainian border guards in a motorboat.

Residents of the region claim that the border service employees hit the man on the head with a stick and attempted to drown him. In a video published by deputy Vasyl Kostyuk, one of the border guards denies these accusations: "Я його не топив" (I did not try to drown him).

Chisinau's position

Lilian Carp emphasised that even if the applicant was indeed violating the rules for crossing the border, this does not give Ukrainian officials the right to cross the state border of Moldova. He qualified such an action as a serious violation.

The Moldovan border patrol detained the Ukrainians and handed them over to the Koseutsi border police sector. The prosecution initiated criminal proceedings for the fact of illegal border crossing.

Consequences for the parties involved

The victim was hospitalised at the Soroca district hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. After the incident, he applied for asylum in Moldova. Lilian Carp suggested that the request might be granted if the applicant meets the established criteria, as international law provides for the possibility of seeking asylum for people fleeing war.

The two Ukrainian border guards were later handed over to the Ukrainian authorities in accordance with a bilateral agreement. Their boat and weapons were seized as part of the investigation being conducted by the Moldovan side.

Chisinau stressed: the circumstances of the incident require a thorough investigation, and the pursuit of an individual cannot be a justification for the illegal crossing of a state border.