MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian citizens often try to flee the country using the transit road in the Odessa region, which goes through the village of Palanca in Moldova, Andrey Demchenko from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said.
"There is the road Mayaki - Udobnoye, which passes through the territory of Moldova. Border guards ensure control of entry and exit from this transit road. But, regretfully, very often people try to choose this section, this transit road, to illegally leave the borders of our state. Some hide inside vehicles, including trucks, to get to this section. Others abandon their vehicle and try to get to the territory of Moldova," he told the Ukrainian TV channel Rada.
Demchenko added that the border guard service is trying to thwart such escape attempts in cooperation with Moldovan counterparts.
Earlier, the Ukrainian mass media circulated a video showing many abandoned cars at a section of the Mayaki - Udobnoye - Palanca highway, which passes through the Ukrainian-Moldovan border in the Odessa region.
A general mobilization campaign was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since. The authorities in Kiev are taking all possible measures to prevent draft dodging. Thus, draft-age men are banned from leaving the country. Even those unfit for military service due to health problems are being drafted.
Meanwhile, men of conscription age try to leave the country in every possible way, often putting their lives at risk. On April 16, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed into law a bill on mobilization, whose second and final reading had been passed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on April 11. The document sparked strong criticism when it was still being prepared and discussed.