The borders of the key are fractive

Novyevropa understands why saboteurs are so easily penetrated from Ukraine to Russia

In the summer of 2014, I was on a business trip in Ukraine and tried to return to Russia. Around the fighting, the Armed Forces tried to cut off the separatists from supply from the Russian Federation. The border crossing points did not work. One acquaintance took me to a small border village, right in the middle of which the border passed along the channel of a small river. Having moved through a shaky log bridge, I ended up on Russian territory. Even taking into account the clashes of literally a few kilometers, Russian border guards did not try to somehow strengthen their positions or simply catch violators.

Not imprisoned

The length of the border with Russia near the Sumy region of Ukraine is 562.8 kilometers, in Chernihiv - 199 and Kharkov - 315.5. In fact, today these lines have turned into the front line, where shelling is almost daily, and from time to time diversion-reconnaissance groups (DRGs) go into battle.

“What do you want from border guards? They are not imprisoned for this and they do not have the opportunity to conduct a combined arms fight with superior enemy forces,

-Says, on the basis of the anonymity of the Novyevropa, a source close to the leadership of the border service of the FSB of the Russian Federation. - The most formidable weapon at the outposts and at the border crossing points are old, poorly functioning armored personnel carriers in which there is no one to sit behind control and machine gun. Some departments took the copters to the needs of the front. The military police, special services and special forces are obliged to work against saboteurs. If the enemy uses armored vehicles, artillery, aviation are needed. And border guards must catch smugglers and citizens to put stamps in passports. ”

Our interlocutor says that the practice of using the local population in the protection of state borders, which was recently recalled by deputy Andrei Kartapolov, is rooted in late Soviet times. The exhausted Soviet Union at the end of its existence was no longer enough forces to fully protect the longest border on the planet. The authorities have issued regulatory acts that allow us to use ordinary citizens living near the line of separation of states to protect the country's borders.

Then the “dashing nineties” began, when there was no real border between Ukraine and Russia at all. There was an agreement on border cooperation that allowed everyone to move in both directions almost without documents. Russian trains to the North Caucasus passed through the territory of a neighboring state.

“These Ukrainians began to build the first barriers and set posts on the border in the middle of the zero years,” recalls the source of Novo-Europe. - The entire infrastructure on the Russian side has not yet been limited to the content of the border crossing points. Sometimes border guards arranged raids on smugglers. But there was not enough strength for something more serious. ”

Other experts interviewed by us agree with this.

“I am not surprised by what happened. We lived for a long time in a state of relaxation, ”says Alexander Mikhailov, Major General of the FSB, Major General of the FSB. - In this section of the border, we have extremely limited forces and border guards in this direction have very small resources. They have no weapons heavier than mortars. Two out of four are draftees or mobilized. They are provided according to peacetime norms. Neither in the Soviet years, nor more in the later time, we did not consider Ukraine as a probable enemy. There were a checkpoint for people who wanted to go on the other side. The rest of the territory was in free mode. But in conditions of hostilities, it became clear that the boundaries of this and other subjects of the Federation require a more effective cover. ”

According to the General of the FSB retired,

The border can be controlled not only with the help of patrols, but also by aviation, as well as quadrocopters and other technical means.

And all cases of entry of intelligence and sabotage groups from Ukraine will be analyzed by specialists. Alexander Mikhailov assumes that, most likely, they will not become a border service, but a military group located near the border, ensuring the security of both the border and the border guards themselves. To do this, you can use the forces of the Moscow and other military districts of Russia, which have enough combat power and equipment.

It is impossible to close the lines

“The problem of Russia is objective. It is impossible to close many hundreds of kilometers of borders, which are quite suitable for the movement of the terrain with settlements and a network of country roads, it is impossible to close it, ”Israeli military expert David Sharp expresses his opinion. - In order to reliably block such a distance, a huge number of troops and equipment will be required. Headquarters, coordination, detection and intelligence, and a lot of effort that are in constant high readiness are needed. The attacker is much easier than defending. Ukrainians have the opportunity to look for weaknesses from Russia and carefully prepare their shares. Kyiv has everything you need for this - time, resources, intelligence. ”

David Sharp gives an example of the Israeli-Livanese border, where only 130 km of length are guarded by the elite forces of the army and border services using the most modern means and technologies, which Russia can only dream of. Moreover, it is known that this line has its own vulnerable places, and if desired, the enemy may try to break through it.

In Russia, according to David Sharp, things are even worse than one could suggest. It is clear to the expert that very minor forces are allocated for the defense of the border, and in some places they may not be at all. “Russia lacks troops at the front,” says David Sharp. - The question is whether the Russians are made maximum with the meager resources that they have today, remains open. I can assume that their effectiveness is insignificant. We can see a high level of headlight, a bad organization and low combat training. ”

“The Russian army has long been operating in the context of the extreme shortage of trained personnel,” says another military expert, a former police officer and special services of Israel, Sergei Migdal.

- We see how in places where active clashes are going on, units from all over the country from Kaliningrad to the Far East are used.

They are barely enough to hold more than a thousand kilometers of the advanced. But a certain number of troops should remain in place of deployment in their military districts. Whereas the rest of the line of contact, that is, the border, is covered by virtually border guards and the Russian Guard with the police. They are not adapted for fighting even with saboteurs, not like heavy equipment. They can only die selflessly at a combat post. ”

The Russian border service, according to Sergei Migdal, is at the general, extremely low level of the army and the entire power bloc. Our interlocutor is confident that most of the length of the Russian-Ukrainian border is still not equipped with the necessary means of detecting violators, and is generally open for free movement. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to organize a serious defense there.

Counterpets Markers

“Additional military units were transferred to Graivoron with large transport helicopters of the Mi-26,” continues the story Sergei Migdal. - Obviously, there was no forces to repel the attack. Judging by the messages, one military helicopter was shot down and burned in a village near the district center. For successful counteraction to the included forces, it was required that the border has several equipped battalions of the Russian Army with positions, where sectors will be shot and defense will be prepared. Only fortifications and minefields do not give anything. During the night they are removed by engineering troops and sappers. ”

Sergei Migdal suggests that in the coming weeks or even days such raids may take place in other regions of Russia. And this will make up a serious problem for the Russian authorities. No wonder Vladimir Putin does not comment on the situation, trying to pretend that nothing happened.

“It would be logical for the Ukrainian side to strengthen such an onslaught,” says Sergey Migdal, “with the help of Russians from the RDK and Legion“ Freedom of Russia ”or the special forces of the special forces included in these units.

And if an entire infantry team enters, she will be able to capture and hold a small city. Then Moscow will be forced to react

and transfer to previously safe areas of formation with advanced. Given the fact that the resources are finite, as a result, the places where the expected Ukrainian counterattack may begin. ”

The expert is sure that such operations are being developed by the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and at the moment they are very successful. Even with the complete ignoring of the incident, official media outlets today instantly distributed via the Internet and messengers. The task - to be horrified and confused in the rear, put a panic, ban the roads with refugees and automobile traffic jams, show the vulnerability of settlements - is effectively solved. All this is markers of the approaching counterattack of Ukraine.