Moldovan border guards detain Ukrainian who tried to escape from Odesa region

Officers of the Border Police of the Eastern Regional Directorate, under the coordination of the Prosecutor's Office of Causeni in Moldova, detained a Ukrainian who was trying to illegally cross the border in Odesa region.

According to the press service of the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova in Palanca, one of the organizers of a criminal scheme to organize illegal migration of Ukrainians to Moldova was detained along with him.

As a result of operational actions, on January 1, 2026, in the sector of responsibility of the Tudora-1 Special Forces, in the village of Palanca, about a kilometer from the state border, a 36-year-old citizen of Ukraine was found and detained immediately after illegally crossing the border from Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova.

As part of the investigation, Moldovan law enforcement officers established that the detainee had contacted a criminal group, paying a sum of USD 10 thousand, to organize the illegal border crossing and facilitate his further travel.

In the framework of the same operation, border guards identified and detained a 39-year-old citizen of the Republic of Moldova, suspected of direct involvement in the capture and transportation of the migrant, as an active participant in the criminal scheme.

He was detained under Part 3 of Article 362-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova, and the court imposed a 30-day detention as a measure of restraint.

In December, officers of the State Bureau of Investigation completed a pre-trial investigation against a border guard inspector accused of organizing an illegal channel for conscripts to cross the state border with Moldova.

In November, the State Bureau of Investigation also detained a border guard inspector in Odesa region on suspicion of organizing the illegal transportation of men of military age across the state border outside of checkpoints.

Кирило Бойко