A Ukrainian tried to cross the Dniester on a mattress to Moldova

Ukraine’s border service said on Wednesday it had caught a man trying to cross into Moldova by “swimming” on an inflatable mattress in the Dniester River.

The State Border Service released a video of a 39-year-old man lying on his stomach on a mattress and rowing his hands through the water. He was fully clothed, wearing a hoodie, long pants and sneakers while carrying a backpack.

He was spotted by a drone, and then border service officers reached the man by boat and took him into custody. Border officials said an unnamed resident of Dnieper contacted the person through a messaging app who was coordinated his attempted crossing for about $4,200.

Thousands of attempts daily

The Border Patrol said the money is for instruction on how to use a mattress and how to store a cell phone and spare clothes. The man has already paid half of the money in advance, the authorities add, “Business Insider” reports.

He is charged with an illegal attempt to cross the border, and his case will be brought to court, they said.

Thousands of men are fleeing Ukraine in the hope of avoiding mobilization in the country. The recent outflow has increased so much that mountain smugglers are refusing to import contraband to avoid mobilization, the New York Times reported.

Escape from mobilization

However, many refugees tried to swim out of the country, and up to 6,000 men have been found on the Romanian side of the Tisza River since the start of the Russian invasionstates “NIT”.

Some use Telegram groups to avoid military service, and several groups have up to 100,000 members, the BBC reported in August.

Two years after the war, Russia and Ukraine are still locked in a bitter conflict that Ukraine says it will lose without foreign help. The Americans recently sent them $60 billion in military aid, including NATO weapons and equipment.

Ukraine has been intensifying efforts to replenish its depleted forces through an expanded recruitment drive that includes men aged 25 and over since mid-April. The age limit for conscription was previously 27, but the Ukrainian parliament lowered it on April 2.

In an effort to support conscription, Ukraine said on Tuesday it would temporarily stop issuing passports to men of military age abroad, meaning anyone trying to renew one must return home. An estimated 650,000 Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 fled the country after the Russian invasione.

(morning paper)