"The situation on the northwestern borders of Russia has significantly worsened"

The situation on the northwestern borders of Russia has significantly worsened. This was stated by the first deputy director — head of the border guard service of the FSB of Russia Vladimir Kulishov in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta on the eve of the Border Guard Day.

"The situation in the region has significantly worsened. We note the strengthening of military border protection by Finland, the Baltic States and Poland. New military bases are being built on the territories of neighboring states, modern weapons and military equipment are being purchased in large volumes, and logistics capabilities for the transfer of troops and equipment to the Russian borders are being improved," Kulishov said.

The number and scale of military exercises under the auspices of NATO have increased, during which various scenarios of a collision with the Russian Federation are being worked out, he noted.

"Western special services are actively supplying the Kiev regime with information about the locations of border guard units and The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as civilian infrastructure facilities in the rear regions of our country," Kulishov said.

According to him, in order to collect sensitive information, the collective West uses the capabilities of space satellites for both military and dual purposes.

"The concentration of forces of the North Atlantic Alliance on the so—called eastern flank is accompanied by attempts by the authorities of neighboring states to revise the current practice of applying treaties on the regime of the state border, as well as the growth of provocative actions on their part," Kulishov said.

In particular, Finland and Since 2022, Estonia has unilaterally changed the procedure for the passage of persons and vehicles across the state border on far-fetched pretexts. The opening hours of checkpoints were also reduced, restrictions on border crossing were unreasonably increased, and control procedures were tightened.

And Finnish border guards erected engineering barriers in places not provided for by the current Agreement on the regime of the Soviet-Finnish State Border and on the procedure for resolving border Incidents of June 23, 1960.

In this regard, the border guard service is increasing its potential on the border with unfriendly European states.

"Taking into account the current threats to national security in the region, we continue to consistently increase the potential of border authorities on the border with unfriendly European states, and also improve joint activities with units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Rosgvardiya, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, executive authorities for the protection and protection of the state border of the Russian Federation," Kulishov said.