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Map 0552-01 - 0558 Like before it seems the maps of Pridnestrovie are not very accurate. I assume that the position of the border markers indicates an agreed border. Google maps and OpenStreetMap have differences in the border and both contain mistakes. The angle between 0553-01 and 0553-02 for example is missing. On the map it was a straight line from 0553-01 tot 0554.
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Check point North of Răscăieții Noi there is a road which crosses the Dnjestr to Hlinaia, Slobozia in PMR. Here I approach the check point. I was expected here and I could enter an old Seat when the three soliders took me to some border markers.
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Border marker 0552-01 In the Lake Cuchurhan there is a dam from which the Stoyanove river continues. It flows into the Dnjestr. Once there was a border, International checkpoint "Gradenitsi-Nezavertailivka ("МАПП "Градениці-Незавертайлівка") but it's closed now. Big blocks of concrete block the road which is guarded by a Pridnestrovian soldier as well. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take a picture. But on the left side of this pucture you see some parts of the dam. The course of the border is not totally clear. This border marker 0552-01 is located about 30 meters from the road. On the map there are some more angles on the border but these are not covered by a border marker. Or it disappeared.
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Border marker 0553 From 0552-01 to 0553 the border runs along the road. On the right the lake, on the left the border. There is a bend in the road, but I couldn't see a border marker. The vegetation however was high. Here the border makes a 45 degrees angle as it runs around a little dacha (дача) complex which is in PMR. The border runs just around this dacha complex.
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Border marker 0553-01 At 0553-01 the border runs from the road into the bushes and shrubs. No map mentions it. If the soldiers hadn't known it, I would definitly have missed it.
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Border marker 0553-02 In the middle of the bushes the border turns back to the road in the dacha complex. Why this strange angles in the border? I noticed remains of an abandoned and dilapidated house in this extra piece of PMR. As there was no other access to this house which was originally located in Ukraine, I think they changed the border to avoid that this Ukrainian house could only be reached via PMR. On the marker, the paint with '02' can hardly be seen also due to the sunlight, but it's definitly there. On the second picture you see a orto photo of the spot. Notice the single dacha on the right side of the street. It's abandoned and no longer accessable.
Possibly there is even one more intermediate marker 0553-03 that makes the extra land in Moldova rectangular instead of triangular. However, I don't have
any evidence for that. The soldiers who led me to 0553-02 knew the environment well and they only knew the remote 0553-02.
A search for this 0553-03 (if it exists) could have led to illegally crossing the state border. That was too much to ask anyway. |
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Border marker 0554 On the corner of the dacha complex. I assume from 0553-02 to here is a straight line.
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Border marker 0554-01 The border runs just a few meters along the road. On the right the area with dachas.
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Road along border and dachas. The same road as at 0554-01 but now in the opposite direction. On the left the dachas, on the right the border. Remarkable that the Ukrainians didn't make an anti tank ditch.
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Border marker 0555 Surrounded by sweet and tasty plumbs. Another angle in the border. The road on the dacha complex makes a 90 degrees angle. According the old map (and also according to Google maps) the border follows this 90 degrees angle, but that seems not be the case.
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Map 0553 - 0558 Different maps give different information of the situation between 0553 and 0554 and between 0555 and 0558. The purple line is the OSM map, which is not correct between 0553 and 0554. I corrected it in red. The black lines display the border as it was drawn on the 1992 map when Moldova and Ukraine were separated from the Sovjet Union. Google maps follows this black line as well. It looks not to be correct. On the angles 0556 and 0557 there are no markers. So here the purple OpenStreetMap line is correct.
Again the question: why did they change the border: same answer as at 0553-02: to include the buildings in Moldova/PMR.
These buildings on Ukrainian ground were only accessable via Moldova/PMR and that is a complicated and unwanted situation after the separation from
the Sovjet Union into two sovereign states.
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Entrance of the dacha area According to the old map, the border would run just along the right side of this road. However, that's not correct. The angle would have been covered by a border marker, no doubt. Most likely it would have been 0556. And most likely a border correction took place which resulted in 0556 being removed.
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Closed border crossing OpenStreetMap still mentions 'таможня' (Customs) but the check point is closed. Like all crossings between PMR and Ukraine are closed scince Russia attached Ukraine in 2022. According the old map the border ran along this road and made an angle here. Same here: a border correction took place which resulted in 0557 being removed and not being replaced. Remarkable is the presence of a watch tower. It was Ukrainian and located close to the former border, like all watch towers are located very close to the border. Now however it's a Pridnestrovian watch tower but I doubt if it's still in use.
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Border marker 0558 This marker is on the angle which is displayed on OpenStreetMap. It looks like this border marker has been moved for about 20 meters. The soldiers who guided me didn't show 0556 and 0557. I assume they have disappeared, the boys knew the area very well. That means the angle between 0555 and 0558 is not covered with a border marker.
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The almost exclave at 0570-05
My second and last request for this short expedition in Pridnestrovie concerned the last part of the border before reaching the Dnjestr and going over in the Moldovan - Ukrainian border. Unfortunately we didn't visit the last part to the river. Now I deeply regret that I didn't insist on seeing the last part to the river because it's a very interesting part and now I still don't know the exact course of the border.
The rule here applies: the more you know, the less you know.
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Map 0570 Here we have again some issues with the map. I will come to that later. On this map I indicate the markers 0570-03 till 0570-05.
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Border marker 0570-03 Located on a long straight wall. On the Pridnestrovian side the marker was white, only the Ukrainian side is covered with a number
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Border marker 0570-04 Same situation on this long wall.
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Border marker 0570-05 The last marker that I visited. The border is here protected with a fence. The watch tower is on Ukrainian ground according to the soldiers.
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Map 1982-1991 A look at the different maps that I found: This map I use often. The black line is the border in the USSR times when Moldova and Ukraine were Sovjet Republics. The red line is the border -at least on paper- after the separation in 1990. It's not so detailed. The most west part of the UA-part looks almost like an exclave.
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Orto photo 2007 This orto photo of 2007 gives a different view. White border markers are visible, but they are in the middle of a field and much more to the north. It would result in a point where the border reaches the Dnjestr more to the north. There is no real separation of the field, it looks the uniterrupted field is used by one farmer who -as a result- is free to go and move in both countries. On the second picture of this orto photo there are some more details: there is also a road close to the river which leads to the fields. That means the fields were accessable via Ukraine without passing the border. So no exclave at all in this situation. I think this situation ended when Ukraine or PMR wanted to have more control over their borders.
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Google maps This orto photo is more recent. The markers in the fields disappeared. No other markers can be discovered. It looks like the situation as displayed on the 1991 map is now reality, at least on the line Google maps displays. Although the bank of the Dnjestr will be Ukrainian for sure. That means an almost exclave-situation. The Ukrainian bank of the Dnjestr is covered with reed and other tight vegetation, which suggests the Ukrainian road disappeared and the part is no longer accessable. The isolated field there is not in use, as it looks.
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Map 4 OSM This map deviates and displays a strange 'Z'-form. It follows more or less the edge of the fields. The Google orto photo doesn't show any border markers on the corners. The soldiers who guided me told me there is only one border marker between 0570-05 and the river: it was in the high reed and now in summer hard to find. We didd't make an attempt, unfortunately. Anyhow, there is no evidence for the 'Z'-form on OpenStreetMap. I would have been covered with border markers. I'm afraid no one knows the exact course of the border. I had the chance to clear this, but I didn't.
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Border towards Dnjestr The last picture I took here. The border runs somewhere through the reed towards the long strip of trees on the horizon which cover the banks of the Dnjestr. In this reed, according to what the soliders told me, there is one more border marker. It's clear this is a remote and neglected border... |
| Intro | 0001-0100 | 0101-0204 | 0478-0485 (PMR) | 0519-0524 (PMR) | 0552-0570 (PMR) | 0571-0600 | 0601-0700 | 0701-0781 |