Ukrainian guards busted on wrong side of Moldovan border (VIDEO)

The two border officers crossed into the neighboring country in a bid to detain a fleeing man Ukrainian border guards’ pursuit of a draft dodger has landed them on the wrong side of the law in neighboring Moldova.

The officers illegally crossed the border while chasing a man swimming across the Dniester River to escape mobilization, the Moldovan authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Thursday, the Moldovan Border Police stated.

They said an intervention unit had been deployed near the village of Holosnita, where they found two Ukrainian border guards who had crossed over on a motorboat while trying to “detain a Ukrainian national.” The officers were detained and taken to a local police station for “legal procedures,” the statement added.

A boat with two border guards in it can be seen circling a man drifting in the water in a video that surfaced on the internet purporting to show the incident.

The guards repeatedly start the boat engine before shutting it off as they appear to try to prevent the man from reaching Moldovan territory by blocking his way.

Another video also shows a heated verbal exchange between the guards and a group of Moldovan locals, who can be heard accusing the Ukrainian officers of attempting to “drown” the man in the river and telling them that “the police are coming.” Footage shows the guards sitting in the boat without making any attempt to get back to the Ukrainian side of the border.

The Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a criminal case over the illegal border crossing, the police said.

It is unclear if the Ukrainian guards remain in custody.

The Moldovan authorities only said that measures regulated by existing legislation were applied to them.

Read more Ukrainian draft dodger makes mountain escape in plane (PHOTOS) Ukraine’s border service confirmed the incident, with its spokesman Andrey Demchenko blaming a malfunction of the boat’s engine, which he claimed led to it washing ashore in Moldova.

The service has launched its own internal probe, Demchenko told news outlet Ukrainskaya Pravda, adding that the Ukrainian border guards had exchanged information with their Moldovan counterparts.

According to the spokesman, the alleged draft dodger was also detained by the Moldovan authorities.

Kiev launched a mobilization campaign soon after the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022.