Ukrainian border guards to begin patrolling Donbas frontline
Ukrainian border guards who are controlling the movement of people across the frontline in Donbas are beginning to patrol the first line of defense.
"We have received an order from the government for border guards to move into the transport corridors of the first defense borderline to conduct preliminary inspection of transport vehicles and ID checks of citizens crossing the conflict line," Border Guard Service spokesman Oleh Slobodian told Interfax.
Such changes are due to the need to make checks simpler and faster, he said.
The process began on March 6, four checkpoints have been fitted out, Slobodian added. "Engineering and fortification work at yet another checkpoint will soon be completed, and border guards will be stationed there along with the armed forces of Ukraine," he said.
Ukrainian border guards were previously stationed at checkpoints on the second defense line in Donbas (the so-called "security line") while the army and the National Guard were deployed at the first line of defense.
