Reuters reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian border guards had halted an invasion from neighboring Belarus, succeeding in part because the invaders were members of the Belarussian national rowing team.

According to the report, a Ukrainian coast guard vessel intercepted ten rowers from a "flotilla" of eight boats that had crossed into Ukrainian waters from Transdniestria.  As you know, Transdnistria (a.k.a. Pridnestrovie) is a de facto independent republic within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova in Eastern Europe that declared independence on September 2, 1990 as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and since then has exercised de facto control over most of the Transdniestria region, located between the Dniester River and Ukraine.  Transdnistria offers citizens a per capita income of $844, and beatings.

So it may not be that surprising that people are trying to get the hell out of it, even if they are from somewhere else originally.  On the other hand, these rowers claimed they had crossed the border "accidentally."  I think that was Hitler’s first explanation too, but it may be true here since the rowers were so far from home.  Belarus does not share a border with Transdniestria, which is much further south.  According to reports, the Belarussians claimed that they had been invited to train for the world championship in Transdniestria because every body of water in their own horrible country is still frozen solid.

Ukraine says that the rowers have been detained and will be prosecuted for illegally entering the country’s national waters.

Link: Reuters via Yahoo! News