The Chernihiv region authorities and the Chernihiv border unit of the northern regional department of the State Border Service have drawn up a border reinforcement program, which stipulates the construction of engineering structures and ditches with a total length of 183 kilometers, Chernihiv Regional Council Chairman Mykola Zverev said on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
According to Zverev, Ukraine should reinforce its border with the Russian Federation in a way similar with the “Mannerheim Line” Finland constructed in the Karelian Isthmus in the 1920s-1930s. Finnish troops were deterring the Red Army offensive for two months along that line in 1940.
“We are already working on the deployment and enlargement of the border infrastructure, engineering structures and fortifications. The border has been divided into sectors. A ditch six meters wide and three meters deep is being dug from the Senkivka post towards Hremiach,” the regional council chairman told reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Chairmen of three regional councils have responded to the appeal for the allotment of engineering and earthmoving vehicles in the construction of an anti-tank ditch along the state border. Technical and financial assistance of international organizations to the construction of the fortifications has been discussed with the ambassadors of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The Regional Council head noted the importance of the deployment of military units in the region to give support to the border guards. “Our region is located on the border, so the Ukrainian Defense Ministry should consider the possible restoration of the staff of the North Operative Command in Chernihiv. It is also necessary to set up a new territorial defense battalion of volunteers and deploy it in our region on a permanent basis. We will sleep tight if we know that servicemen of various service arms are reliably protecting our land,” Zverev said.
