Ukraine is creating a smart model to protect the state border with Russia in the course of Project Rampart, Ukrainian State Border Service chief Viktor Nazarenko said.
“As of today, 264.6 kilometers of anti-tank ditches, 111.8 kilometers of lateral roads, 40.6 kilometers of exclusion drag roads, and 75.7 kilometers of fencing have been built,” Nazarenko said in an interview published by the parliamentary newspaper Holos Ukrainy on Dec. 21.
He said that the project was called Rampart by the media.
“This is a smart model to protect the Ukrainian state border through a combination of mutually supplementary technical measures. It will be possible to control the borderline online and to rapidly respond to any violations,” he said.
“The Derhachi sector in the Kharkiv region has been used as a ground for testing new techniques, which we have been implementing on our border in collaboration with scientists,” he said.
“We deem this project to be very important. For the first time in centuries, our country is building a real border with Russia. It will truly enhance efficiency and will significantly reduce risks and threats,” the chief of the State Border Service said.
The rate of violations observed in the Derhachi sector and nearby areas has been minimized by the deployment of the visual and technical surveillance network, he said.
Border guards are building engineering infrastructures in accordance with a plan approved by the Ukrainian government in May 2015. The project is funded by the budget.
The project continues in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, Nazarenko said. “The works are over 50 percent complete in the Kharkiv region, while they have just begun in the Luhansk region,” he said.
Four combat modules are in use, and a comprehensive border protection and control network has been deployed on most part of the Kharkiv region, he said.
The State Border Service chief complained about the limited funding of the project, which prevented the works from being performed on a full scale.
“Only Hr 400 million were allotted in 2015 although the budget stood at nearly Hr 1 billion. This year’s project budget amounted to Hr 1.2 billion, yet only Hr 200 million have been allotted, and Hr 175 million worth of works have been financed,” Nazarenko said.
