Issue of high-quality equipment of entire border needs to be resolved within 2022-2023 – Monastyrsky

KYIV. Oct 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrsky announced the need to equip the Ukrainian border, both from the eastern and western sides in 2022 and 2023, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reports.

"High-quality arrangement of the entire border is an issue that we must unequivocally solve within the next two years according to the presidential program. We plan to equip the Ukrainian-Russian and Ukrainian-Belarusian sections of the border next year. In a year, in 2023, the western border has to be equipped. Today we had a bird’s eye view of the border with Poland. Our task is to plan, get to know how everything is arranged, how it works, and what else needs to be done," the press service quotes Monastyrsky as saying.

As reported, on October 2, at the Rava-Russka international automobile checkpoint, head of the State Border Guard Service Serhiy Deineko acquainted Monastyrsky with the procedure for passing citizens and vehicles and the measures taken to counter the spread of COVID-19 in Ukraine. In particular, on the use of COVID-19 electronic verification by border guards of certificates confirming the vaccination of citizens, a negative test result or recovery from an illness.

The software "SafeBorder" was also demonstrated, which enables border guards to automatically check the validity of the document and its belonging to the relevant person when crossing the Ukrainian border. It is reported that the minister personally checked its work, having shown his certificate of vaccination.

"We arrived at the checkpoint to see how border guards work in a pandemic, as the government plans to make certain changes in the work with certificates. We want to study this issue," the Minister of Internal Affairs said.

Reportedly, at the "green" section, Monastyrsky got acquainted with the organization of the protection of the state border with the help of a mobile thermal imaging complex based on the Torsus car and unmanned aerial systems. He visited the border line, where there is a control and trace strip and observation towers.

In addition, Monastyrsky got acquainted with the order of work of the operational duty service shift and the video monitoring complex, which helps to monitor the checkpoint. Separately, the procedure for monitoring border patrols using the GPS navigation system and communicating information in the event of a situation was demonstrated.

"The western and eastern borders are different in mood, in intensity, but after talking with the border guards, the mood is the same – to protect Ukraine from an external enemy, from the Russian Federation, to build a state border," Monastyrsky said.

He also said that he discussed with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky the issue of increasing wages for employees of the State Border Guard Service.

"I am convinced that both the burden that you bear and the responsibility you take every day should be properly evaluated by the state. Of course, not everything will work out right away, but there is undoubtedly the political will to equip the border, to create conditions and to provide adequate financial support," the minister said.

He also thanked the servicemen for their service and, together with the head of the State Border Guard Service, awarded the border guards of Lviv border guard detachment with insignia.