Screenshots from a video show Ukrainian border guards in a boat on the Moldovan side of the Dniester River and a Ukrainian man in the water next to them on October 15. The video, apparently shot by a bystander, was posted on social media by the small right-wing parliamentary opposition party Democracy At Home.

Amid Russia's Onslaught, A Twist In The Pursuit Of Men Fleeing Ukraine For Moldova

21 Oct 2026, 15:35 by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Join

The footage is blurry but dramatic: Two camouflage-clad men in a motor-powered dinghy circle a third individual who is struggling in the water, shouting and grabbing at him. At one point, one of them men tries to hit the swimmer repeatedly with an oar.

The scene played out in the middle of the Dniester River, which winds along a stretch of the border between Moldova and Ukraine and is used as a crossing by Ukrainians trying to flee their country as Russia's full-scale war rages on toward the five-year mark.

Ukraine is scrambling to alleviate a manpower shortage that is hurting its defense against a much more populous attacker. As in Russia, recruiters in Ukraine have sometimes used forceful methods to round up men to fight.

Most men aged 23-60 are forbidden to leave the country. Many have tried to cross into Moldova or neighboring Romania, sometimes risking their lives on potentially treacherous rivers.

At least twice this month, there's been a new twist: Ukrainian border guards giving chase to compatriots have ended up on the Moldovan side and been detained by their Moldovan counterparts.

That's what happened in the case purportedly captured on a bystander's video on October 15. After the fray in the river, the guards are seen sitting in the dinghy on shore in Moldova and an expletive-laden exchange ensues, in Russian, with people berating them for their treatment of the fugitive.

Local residents pulled the man out of the river and he was hospitalized, according to Moldovan media reports. Reports identified him as Oleksiy Koval, a 49-year-old clinical psychologist from Kyiv, and said he was trying to reach his family, who had left Ukraine earlier.

Officials said he applied for asylum in Moldova, which means he is highly unlikely to be sent back to Ukraine.

Many of the Ukrainians fleeing across the border into Moldova rely on smuggling networks operating on both sides that charge fees to sneak them across. Cooperation between the two countries focuses primarily on dismantling these networks.

However, once Ukrainian men reach Moldovan soil and apply for asylum, the law effectively prevents their repatriation: Authorities are not allowed to send applicants back if there are "reasonable grounds to believe" their lives would be in danger or they would risk being subjected to torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment.

According to Moldovan government statistics, in the first four years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- from February 2022 to March 2026 -- about 44,000 Ukrainians, mostly men, were caught illegally crossing the border into Moldova. Most moved on to other countries in Europe.

'Extreme Cruelty'

A few days after the two incidents, the Ukrainian border guards were released and sent back. But the drama on the river has set off political reverberations in Moldova, where President Maia Sandu's pro-Western government is a vocal supporter of Ukraine in its defense against Russia.

The October 15 incident was first brought to light by Democracy At Home, a small right-wing parliamentary opposition party that published the video before Moldovan authorities made a statement about the matter.

In a video post, party leader Vasile Costiuc criticized the Moldovan state's decision to repatriate the Ukrainian guards and said the authorities "lack a unified stance on such a vital matter as state security."

Democracy at Home called on the Foreign Ministry to issue a note of protest to Kyiv. It urged Sandu to "refuse to tolerate the repeated violations of the state border" and to decorate two residents of from the riverside village of Holoșnița for "civic heroism," claiming they had saved the life of the Ukrainian man.

The main opposition group, the Party of Socialists (PSRM), which advocates closer ties with Russia, called the Ukrainian border guards' actions a case of "extreme cruelty" that reveals "the true face of the Kyiv regime, the closest partner and 'friend' of Maia Sandu."

Socialist leader Igor Dodon, a Moscow-friendly former president who lost to Sandu in a 2020 election, accused her administration of turning Moldova into a "free transit zone for foreign special services."

The party formally requested answers from the government on the Ukrainian guards' border incursion and the legal basis under which they were released and sent back to Ukraine rather than being detained on suspicion of attempted murder.

Ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) lawmaker Lilian Carp, head of the parliamentary national-security committee, said that "nothing justifies such behavior from border guards." Speaking on public broadcaster Moldova 1, he also claimed the Foreign Ministry had sent a note of protest to Kyiv regarding the October 15 incident.

The ministry flatly denied that, saying the matter was "being addressed through institutional communication channels between the competent authorities."

'Grateful To Ukraine'

Ukraine's Border Guard Service said it had opened an investigation into the reports and the actions of the border patrol involved. It said the guards ended up on Moldovan territory because the water level was low and the boat's outboard motor failed during the pursuit.

Prime Minister Vasile Tofan argued that Moldovan authorities acted responsibly and such incidents must be viewed in the context of Moscow's war, saying they would not happen if Russia was not attacking Ukraine.

"I am very grateful to Ukraine for defending both us and Europe," he said.

Moldova's security has been compromised in various ways by Russia's war.

Dozens of drones and missiles launched by Russia have crashed in Moldova, which is bordered by Ukraine on three sides, and the frequency of these incidents has increased in recent months.

Last week, following an investigation by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, the government announced an investigation into concerns that Russian tech giant Yandex has been harvesting Moldovans' personal data by sending it directly to servers in Russia.

Written by Steve Gutterman based on reporting by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service

Amid Russia's Onslaught, A Twist In The Pursuit Of Men Fleeing Ukraine For Moldova

Amid Russia's Onslaught, A Twist In The Pursuit Of Men Fleeing Ukraine For Moldova

'Extreme Cruelty'

'Grateful To Ukraine'

Written by Steve Gutterman based on reporting by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service

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