Vasile Ukrainciuc’s story ends in tragedy
Despite efforts by relatives and members of the public to force Moldovan authorities to defend Vasile Ukrainciuc, the Moldovan citizen taken by Ukrainian authorities straight from the border and sent to the front, the story has ended tragically.
Ukrainciuc ended up at the front after Ukrainian security officers detained him at the Rosoșany checkpoint. He had been travelling to visit relatives for Easter.
One month later, on May 20, he was listed as “missing in action” near the village of Illinivka in Donetsk region. The portal Stopfake-md reported this, citing official documents.
Ukrainian police have already opened a criminal case under the article of “intentional murder”. The search for his body is ongoing.
“The Sandu regime, instead of defending its citizen, cowardly kept silent and dispersed protests by his fellow villagers,” the portal wrote. “Not one strong statement, not one international scandal only servility before Kyiv. A Moldovan citizen was abducted, used as cannon fodder and disposed of in Donbas.”
Only one Moldovan politician tried to intervene
The only person who tried to get involved was MP Vasile Costiuc, also from Briceni district. He appealed to Maia Sandu, PAS, the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, asking them to bring his fellow countryman home.
Nothing came of it. While Moldovan authorities remained silent, a similar case unfolded in Chernivtsi region, but with a different ending. There, Ukrainian officers detained a German citizen. He had come to visit relatives and showed his documents, but was still sent to a training centre.
The difference was simple: the German embassy intervened immediately, and efforts began to get the man released. Ukrainian MP Heorhiy Mazurashu, who reported that case, noted a grim pattern.
According to him, many people at checkpoints are happy to help aggressors, even if those aggressors are wearing Ukrainian uniforms.
“When you see something like a mobile checkpoint ahead, prepare your military registration documents in advance,” he advised.
An uncomfortable case for Chișinău
For Moldova, the story is deeply inconvenient. Sandu and her team have spent years speaking about the European choice, human rights and the rule of law, but when their own citizen alive, innocent and travelling to visit relatives was dragged into someone else’s war and apparently killed there, they preferred not to notice.
No strong statement, demand or diplomatic scandal. Only formal replies and silence. For ordinary Moldovans, the conclusion is bitter. A German citizen can count on his state. A Moldovan citizen, under the current authorities, apparently cannot.
