Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov says that after militants shelling forced the closure of a checkpoint near the village of Zaytseve, another one, in Maryinka, could also be closed temporarily.
On Feb. 10, Turchynov visited the Ukrainian defensive positions in the war-torn zone in Donbas, where hostile shelling has been most intense, NSDC’s press service said. In particular, he inspected the positions near Zaytseve, Mayorsk, areas around the ruined Donetsk airport, the village of Opytne, and the Butivka coal mine, the spokesperson said.
While in Zaytseve, he said that “the checkpoint in Zaytseve would re-open only after shelling of this area stops.” He added that, due to the significant rise in shelling, the checkpoint in Maryinka could be closed as well.
The closure of the checkpoints is “not a method of punishment, but a form of protecting the lives of our citizens who use them,” Turchynov said.
Speaking to border guards and security officers at the Zaytseve checkpoint, he pointed “to the need to increase the quality of checks, once the checkpoint re-opens, in order to prevent incursions on Ukrainian territory by representatives of sabotage and terror groups.”
The NSDC Secretary held a meeting with head of Donetsk military and civil administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky, chiefs of the SBU’s local agencies, national police and border guards in the region. They discussed problems of Donetsk region and ways they could be resolved soon.
Zhebrivsky reported about a decrease in flows of smuggled goods in the region, but he mentioned the intensification of financial contraband, “which is quite difficult to be tackled.” In this context, the officials present at the meeting discussed the need to introduce declaration of funds relocated across the contact line in Donbas in order to block illegal movement of cash to uncontrolled territory and prevent the financing of terrorist groups.
Turchynov also held a meeting with ATO senior officers and representatives of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the General Staff. The meeting covered measures to counter Russia aggression in Donbas.
