Moldova detains Ukrainian border guards during pursuit on the Dniester

Moldovan border police said they detained two Ukrainian border guards who crossed the frontier while pursuing a Ukrainian citizen on the Dniester River. The man they were pursuing requested asylum in Moldova.

The guards were attempting to detain their compatriot near the Moldovan bank, according to preliminary information from border police. The incident took place on Saturday and was separate from the earlier detention of another pair of guards near Holosnita.

In the Holosnita incident on October 15, two Ukrainian officers crossed the border in a motorboat. RBC reported that low water and an engine failure carried the boat toward the Moldovan bank, where local residents pulled it ashore. The guards were detained and subsequently returned to Ukraine. Prosecutors opened a criminal case.

On October 19, lawmaker Lilian Carp said Chisinau had sent Kyiv a diplomatic protest over the Holosnita incident. Moldova’s Foreign Ministry denied that a protest note had been sent and said the competent agencies were discussing the circumstances through existing channels, RBC reported, citing NOI.md.