Escaped with group

Ukrainian border guard shoots deserter dead

A Ukrainian deserter was shot dead on Sunday evening near the Moldovan border. He had been stopped in a car at a checkpoint together with three other men and then fled, according to the Ukrainian border guard.

However, he and another man who had also fled were discovered again. According to the Ukrainian border guards, they fired a warning shot. After the man resisted, a second direct shot was fired, which cost him his life. According to the investigation, the group fled from a training ground by cab in the Odessa region and were on their way towards the Transnistria region in the Republic of Moldova, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Not just volunteers in the army
At the end of June, a conscript civilian died after being shot at the Romanian border together with another. They allegedly attacked the border guards with a machete. According to the authority's spokesperson, firearms are used time and again. The state is taking consistent action against deserters (see video above).

Martial law has been in force in Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 can only leave the country in exceptional cases. As there are not enough volunteers, the army also relies on forced recruits. Conscripts therefore repeatedly try to evade military service by fleeing to neighboring EU countries or Moldova. Barbed wire fences have already been erected on the western borders.