This was my sixth and final Polish tripoint. The tripoint between Belarus, Poland and Ukraine is easily accessible from the Polish village of Orchówek, it is however, somewhat remote from other tripoints and requires a special trip to bag. Of all the border POI’s we visited as part of IBRG EPTEX-24 this was the most tourist orientated with signs indicating its location. Counter intuitively it was also the place where we were interrogated most by the Polish border Guard.
With wet tripoints it is sometimes difficult to identify where the tripoint actually is. As with most wet tripoints this was a Class C visit – within 500m, visible . It is important where possible to access the Border Treaty (Lutsk 2013). This allows a better orientation and understanding when on a field trip to the area.
Article 1
- The point of contact of the state borders of the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as the “point of contact of the borders”, is located at the intersection of a line running through the middle of the Bug River (Western Bug) with a line constituting an extension of the southern edge of the Mościcki Canal.
- The point of contact of the borders is marked on the Delimitation Map of the Point of Contact of the State Borders of the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine, made at a scale of 1:10,000, which constitutes an integral part of this Agreement.
Old Soviet Map
This map has the border further south, however the course of the canal might have changed.
At the time of our visit in July 2024 the Mościcki Canal (built in 1929 during the Second Republic but never used) was overgrown with vegetation with neither Belarus or Ukraine taking responsibility for maintaining it. However it was possible to identify BY border markers on the southern side of the canal, very close to the Ukrainian tripoint monument. As the map above indicates the BY/UA border enters the River Bug in a north westerly direction and the tripoint is at its intersection with the the Polish border that follows the thalweg. Normally with a wet tripoint I like to visit from at least 2 sides. My most successful wet tripoint visit was HUROUA (Hungary – Romania – Ukraine) where I visited from all 3 sides. In this case given the political and military situation this was not possible to visit even 2 sides.
Point A
This is as far as it is possible to drive by car. When we arrived there were a couple of fisherman to the north, almost immediately afterwards the Polish border guard arrived – more on that later. Point A had a shelter, signs to the tripoint and corresponding border markers BYPL BM#001. This is the second time I have seen a BY BM#001 marker, the first being on the Belarus – Ukraine border at BYRUUA. Photo here
Point B
The Polish tripoint marker
This tripoint is marked by 3 indirect monuments of similar design.
An interesting diagram (left) indicating the 6 Polish tripoints and encouraging visits, which is slightly ironic given the scrutiny at this point, notwithstanding the wider political and military situation. The six Polish tripoints are as follows:
I am pleased to have visited all of them.
The tripoint
As noted above the BY/UA border enters the River Bug in a NW direction, in the photo below I have drawn lines to indicate the approximate position- the BY/UA border follows the border markers on the southern bank of the canal whereas the PL border is in the centre of the River Bug.
The overgrown Canal
Point C
The Byelorussian side has a corresponding tripoint marker and 2 BM’s on the opposite side of the canal.
Point D
The final point is the Ukrainian segment which since 2022 sits behind heavy coils of barbed wire. Access to the tripoint monument appears to be restricted behind a locked fence. Earthworks are visible too.
Back to Point A and more challenges…
After visiting the tripoint area we returned to the car ready to find our hotel and chill for the evening. Unfortunately we were detained for questioning.
On one level it is easy to understand the heightened level of concern due to the war in Ukraine and the threat posed by Belarus. This was very much the front line. However, to detain a group of tourists/border enthusiasts for 90 minutes with lengthy passport checks, questions about why we were there and where we had been was excessive, as was checking the hire car mileage to cross check against where we said we were. They were aware we had spoken to their colleagues at the easternmost point, but repeated the same questions and added a few.
As this was the most touristic spot on our trip, they could not answer the question “what have we done wrong?” My feeling was they knew very quickly we were not a threat to the national security of Poland and the west but progressed anyway. They were nevertheless polite, professional and efficient throughout. Perhaps this is a price we pay for having a strange hobby.
In the end the time passed and we headed to our hotel in Szuminka the wonderful Villa Nova.
The 3 Monuments
Seeing these 3 monuments made it all worthwhile. What is sad is that standing next to the 2 pillars across the river seems impossible in the near future.
Date of Visit: 31 July 2024
Barry's Borderpoints 