You're reading: Ukraine to tighten border rules for Russians, boost spending on cyber security and defense

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said on July 10 that it would introduce new, stricter rules for Russian citizens crossing the national border and living in the country, and also allocate more funds to enhance cyber security and defense in 2017.

Starting from Jan. 1, all foreign citizens crossing Ukrainian border will have to undergo biometric checks, unless they are from countries that have agreements with Ukraine that such checks are not required, the council’s chairman, Oleksandr Turchynov, said at a briefing on the evening of July 10.

In particular, the biometric checks will include mandatory fingerprinting, he added.

According to Turchynov, the stricter rules will primarily affect Russian citizens.

“This issue is connected with enhancing security after recently committed terror attacks, and also with securing the country from hybrid aggression by the Russian Federation,” Turchynov said, referring to car bombings on June 27 that killed two senior Ukrainian intelligence officers – one in Kyiv, and the other near the town of Kostyantynivka, not far from the front line in the Donbas.

In addition to biometric checks, all Russian citizens will register in advance with the Ukrainian authorities before crossing the Ukrainian border, Turchynov said.

The new rules also affect Russian nationals already living in Ukraine – starting from 2018, all of them will have to register their place of residence with the Ukrainian authorities, and notify the authorities about their movements in the country.

Up to Hr 600 million ($23 million) in budget funds will be allocated to buy equipment for the state border service to carry out the stricter checks.

The council’s decision prompted an angry response from Moscow, with the Kremlin promising to retaliate.

“Introducing a preliminary online registration for Russian citizens entering Ukraine, or these so-called biometric checks, is effectively the imposition of a visa regime between our countries, and the way it’s presented doesn’t really matter,” Franz Klintsevich, the deputy chairman of the defense and security committee of Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, said in a statement issued later on July 10.

Up to four million Ukrainian nationals working in Russia could suffer consequences for Ukraine’s actions, Klintsevich said, adding that some of them could be asked to leave Russia, and would be told that the “current regime in Kyiv and (President) Petro Poroshenko” were to blame for their expulsion.

Arms purchases

Meanwhile, as the low-level war against Russian-backed forces grinds on in Ukraine’s east in its fourth year, the council said Ukraine could increase defense spending this year.

Given the increase seen in state budget revenues, the council suggested allocating another Hr 3 billion ($115 million) to the country’s security and law enforcing agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard, the police, and agencies working on ensuring Ukraine’s cyber security.

The increased revenues should also be used to build a new ammunition plant in Ukraine, to compensate for the loss of the country’s only major ammunition plant in Luhansk, when the city captured by Russian-backed troops in 2014.

Since then, Ukraine’s armed forces have relied on Soviet-era supplies and spare ammunition provided by Poland and Lithuania.

Up to Hr 1.4 billion ($54 million) could be spent on the new plant, Poroshenko said during the council meeting, adding that it would produce ammunition in compliance with NATO standards.

Ukraine’s military will also purchase advanced equipment and military vehicles worth Hr 1.6 billion ($61.6 million), Poroshenko said. In particular, the president said Ukraine’s radio-electronic warfare units would be upgraded, and modernized drones and counter-sniper equipment would be purchased.

“We will (also) organize the production of modern armored vehicles, including Oplot tanks and modern missiles, which will help increase our defensive capabilities,” Poroshenko said.

Another Hr 6 billion ($231 million) will be allocated to purchase weapons, ammunition, and military vehicles, Turchynov said. The money spent would be funds confiscated from allies of the ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia amid the Euromaidan Revolution in February 2014.

Up to Hr 1 billion ($38.5 million) will be spent on a large-scale housing program for Ukrainian military servicemen, Turchynov said.

In the wake of the massive cyberattack against Ukraine’s government agencies and businesses on June 27, which Ukraine alleged came from Russia, the council also ordered the allocation of more money to increase the cyber security of the country’s vital infrastructure, government agencies, and banking sector. Some Hr 250 million was promised to increase the wages of experts providing cybersecurity for state agencies.

Sanctions for extension

Meanwhile, the council also ordered Ukraine’ Cabinet of Ministers, Security Service and National Bank to file proposals to extend the list of individuals and companies under sanctions due to Russian aggression against the country. The decision was made soon after the European Union extended on June 28 its sanctions on Russia until the end of 2018, due to Moscow’s failure to fulfill the Minsk peace agreements.

Earlier, on June 20, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also published an extended list of new sanctions imposed on companies and individuals allegedly connected with the war in Ukraine’s east.

“The U.S. and the EU have taken decisions on new sanctions against the Russian Federation, and we cannot ignore these initiatives by our strategic partners,” Turchynov said on July 10.

Law delayed

The council decided to postpone tabling in Ukraine’s parliament a draft bill on government policy in the Donbas war zone, a document initially advocated by Turchynov. The bill was to halt the so-called “anti-terror operation” in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and introduce a new legislative regime in the frontline areas.

The bill was initially to have been approved by the end of the current parliament session on July 27. The bill is ready, Turchynov said, but President Poroshenko has ordered that it be sent to parliament only in September, after consultations with NATO, Germany, France and the United States.