He swam across the Dniester and sought asylum: Moldova issued a note of protest

Moldova sent a note of protest to Ukraine after two Ukrainian border guards illegally crossed the state border while pursuing a man who was swimming across the Dniester River. The man requested asylum in Moldova and will most likely be granted it.

This was stated by Lilian Karp, chair of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense, and public order, during an interview on Radio Moldova.

According to Karp, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there have been repeated instances of Ukrainian citizens illegally crossing the Moldovan border. However, he emphasized that this does not justify the border guards’ actions.

The incident occurred on October 15 near the village of Goloshnitsa in the Soroca district. Two Ukrainian border guards in a motorboat entered Moldovan territory while attempting to detain a Ukrainian citizen who was swimming across the Dniester River.

In turn, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that the Ukrainian border patrol, along with their boat, was carried by the current to the Moldovan shore while attempting to detain the man who was crossing the Dniester River.

A Moldovan border patrol picked up the Ukrainian servicemen and transported them to the Căsăuți Border Police Sector. The prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal case regarding the illegal crossing of the state border.

The 49-year-old man, a native of Kyiv, was hospitalized in the trauma unit of the Soroc regional hospital. He was diagnosed with a concussion.

Андрій Колісніченко