Border Crossing Incident.

I found this in the Tiraspol Times newspaper. It is funny.

Ukraine arrests Belarus nat'l rowing team training in Pridnestrovie

Members of the national rowing team from Belarus have been arrested by Ukraine border guards while training. They are charged with having crossed into Ukraine's side of the Kuchurgan lake shared by Ukraine and Pridnestrovie. They are in Pridnestrovie to practice for the upcoming world championship.
By Times staff, 21/Mar/2007

Ukraine's coastguard arrested 11 rowers from Belarus who mistakenly crossed into Ukrainian waters from PridnestrovieDNESTROVSK (Tiraspol Times) - Ukrainian coast guard officials arrested eleven members of the national rowing team of Belarus for paddling across an international frontier. The border patrol arrested the members of Belarus's national rowing team for illegally entering the country on a flotilla of eight boats.

The Belarusians had been invited to train for the world championship in Pridnestrovie as reservoirs in their ex-Soviet state, further north, were still covered in ice.

The incident took place near Ukraine's Gradenitsy checkpoint in the south-west corner of Ukraine on the waters of the Kuchurgan Liman, a saltwater lake on the border between Ukraine and Trans-Dniester (Pridnestrovie). The lake is located in the southern part of PMR, and is home to a beach which is popular with swimmers in the summer.

Officers aboard the Ukrainian navy motorboat also took into custody eight rowing shells and a motorboat used by coaches. The border guard service said a coast guard vessel was dispatched to intercept and detain 10 rowers who had crossed into Ukrainian waters on the border with Pridnestrovie. The lake is located in the southern part of Pridnestrovie, a short drive from Tiraspol, the country's capital.

The rowers were 300 meters inside Ukrainian waters when arrested. Since they were training, they did not carry passports. Their passports were left in their hotel rooms in Dnestrovsk, near Tiraspol.

Entering Ukraine's side of the lake by mistake
" - We're trying to clarify the situation," said Vladimir Gustvistov, a team spokesman. "We're not sure yet which of our athletes was arrested."

According to a statement by Ukrainian border troops, the Belarusian sportsmen illegally entered Ukrainian waters while training.

They now face charges in court. If the charge stands, each member of the Belarusian team would face deportation and a small fine, but could also lose their expensive rowing shells. Ukraine frequently confiscate valuables which have been used in crimes as well as misdemeanors.


On their way to jail: Members of the national rowing team of Belarus
The Belarusians were being held in a border troops jail Tuesday pending a court hearing. They were charged with violating the Ukrainian law entitled "About the illegal intersection of Ukrainian state border", and will be deported to the territory of Pridnestrovie.

Gustvistov said the side had not been aware where exactly the international border crossed the lake. High winds prevailing in most of Ukraine on Tuesday could have contributed to a navigation error, he said.

More than one hundred members of the Belarusian national rowing team are currently living and training in Pridnestrovie; also known as Transdniestria or Transdnestr. They stay for the season in Dnestrovsk, the country's eight-largest town, on the Kuchurgan Liman lake.

Invited by PMR's national rowing team
Gustvistov said that the Belarusians use the Kuchurgan Liman facility because the lake - only a few kilometres from the Danube delta - rarely freezes. In contrast, waterways located in northernly Belarus easily remain frozen for up to five months of the year. He said they are training in Pridnestrovie near the Dniester river for the upcoming World Rowing Championship as Belarus’ rivers are still covered with ice. Pridnestrovie's own national rowing team invited their Belarusian colleagues to come and stay for the duration of their training.

As a CIS country, Belarusian nationals may move between Moldova, Pridnestrovie and Ukraine freely, but only at designated crossing points according to local statute.

The detainees say that they knew that a state border between Ukraine and PMR runs across the Kuchurgan lake, but that there were no demarcation signs in the area. Team members told officials they were unaware they had crossed the border in the southern Ukrainian region.

Only PMR border officials enforce the border with Ukraine on the Kurchurgan Liman lake. Although neighboring Moldova maintains a seventeen year old territorial claim, it has no authority over Pridnestrovie or over the 400 km long border between Pridnestrovie and Ukraine. It is patrolled by border troops from PMR and from Ukraine, as well as by European Union staff which has been in place since 2005 and which has repeatedly confirmed that there has been no signs of organized weapons trafficking or drug smuggling from Pridnestrovie.

Russian-speaking Pridnestrovie, which in Romanian is called Transnistria, seceded from Romanian-speaking Moldova in September of 1990. Although its independence is still unrecognized by the international community, it has been a 'de facto' sovereign state for most of the past 17 years. Pridnestrovie meets the requirements for statehood under international law and its 555,000 residents are overwhelmingly opposed to unification with neighboring Moldova. (With information from wire services)