Ukrainian border guard shoots deserter
Four Ukrainian soldiers attempt to escape from a training ground in Odessa in a taxi. The Ukrainian border guard discovers them. One of the men openly resists, and the border guards shoot him.
The Ukrainian border guard claims to have shot a deserter near the Moldovan border. According to the spokesperson of the department, Andrij Demtschenko, speaking to the Ukrainian Pravda portal, a group of four deserters in a car were stopped at a checkpoint about 15 kilometers from the border on Sunday evening. Two of them reportedly tried to flee. Later, one of the two was discovered and resisted, and died after being hit by a warning shot and a second direct shot.
According to the statements of the investigators, the group had fled from a training ground in Odessa in a taxi and were heading towards the Transnistrian region, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists in Moldova. The rest of the group was arrested.
Spokesperson Demtschenko stated that border guards have had to use their weapons against fleeing individuals on multiple occasions. He did not provide details. According to media reports, in late June, two conscript civilians were shot by border guards at the Romanian border after they allegedly attacked them with a machete. One of the fleeing civilians died from gunshot wounds.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, martial law is in effect in Ukraine. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 can only leave the country in exceptional circumstances. Due to the lack of volunteers, the Ukrainian military is increasingly replacing its losses with conscripts. Conscripts are therefore attempting to evade military service by fleeing over the green border to EU countries or Moldova. The Ukrainian border guard is therefore constructing increasingly high fences with barbed wire along the western borders to prevent men from escaping.
The group of deserters, attempting to evade military service, had planned to flee towards the Transnistrian region in Moldova, which is known for its pro-Russian separatists. This incident of border controls comes amidst the ongoing political tension between Ukraine and its neighboring countries, following the attack on Ukraine.
In light of the heightened border security measures due to martial law and the Russian invasion, such incidents of attacks on Ukraine's border controls have become a topic of intense politics, both domestically and internationally.
