The Russia–Ukraine barrier, also known as the Ukrainian Wall or the European Wall (), and officially called "Project Wall" () in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, is a

fortified A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lat ...

border barrier A border barrier, border fence or border wall is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, a ...

built on the Ukrainian side of the Russia–Ukraine border. Early construction began following the outbreak of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

in 2014, as the Ukrainian government sought to prevent any further incursions by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

into Ukrainian territory following the Russian annexation of Crimea and the Russian-backed separatist uprising in the Donbas. It was also aimed at helping Ukraine's position with obtaining visa-free travel to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(see

Ukraine–European Union relations International relations between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine are shaped through the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Ukraine is a priority partner within the Eastern ...

). Former Ukrainian prime minister

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk (born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He was t ...

presented this project on 3 September 2014, and it started officially in 2015. In June 2020, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service expected that the project would be finished by 2025. However, in a message to ''Focus'' in January 2022, they stated that the project had been completed at a cost of . On 24 February 2022, all remaining construction on the barrier was suspended due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

History

Following the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, in June 2014, Ukrainian politician and business magnate Ihor Kolomoyskyi suggested that Ukraine should build a wall along the border with Russia. On 3 September 2014, Ukrainian Prime Minister

announced Ukraine would strengthen its border with Russia and called this "Project Wall". The command of Ukraine's anti-terrorist forces stated that "Two defense lines have been planned, and their main goal is to prevent the infiltration by the adversary into the territory of Ukraine". According to Yatsenyuk the project was needed "to cut off Russian support for insurgents in eastern regions" and also to obtain a visa-free regime with the

for Ukraine. It is also an employment project. Project "Wall" was officially started on 10 September 2014. On September 12, 2014, The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allocated 100 million hryvnia for the construction of fortifications on the border with Russia and on the border with

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. On 18 March 2015, the Ukrainian government allocated 865 million hryvnia to build fortifications on the border between Ukraine and Russia. On 10 April 2015, Poland allocated a loan of $100 million for the modernization of the energy sector and improvement of external borders of

. As of May 2015, a walled defense system was under construction along the Russian border in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...

.As Ukraine Erects Defenses, Critics Fear Expensive Failure

Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...

. May 6, 2015 The project was planned to be finished in 2018. On 20 August 2015, it was announced that Ukraine has completed 10% of the fortification line, stating that roughly 180 km of anti-tank ditches had been dug, 40 km of barbed wire fence and 500 fortification obstacles had been erected. 139 million hryvnia out of 300 million allocated has been used for construction of the wall at this point, and that another 460 million hryvnia were budgeted for 2016. In August 2017, it became public that large amounts of the money intended to pay for the Wall project were misused and even stolen. The

National Anti-Corruption Bureau The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine () is a Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian law enforcement agency, law enforcement anti-corruption agency which investigates corruption in Ukraine and prepares cases for prosecution. It has investig ...

(NABU) announced the arrest of several individuals involved in the building of the fortified border. On 5 June 2020, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that the Wall project was 40% implemented as of the end of May 2020. Since 2015, $63.6 million has been spent on the project which the Border Guard Service expected to be finished by 2025.Ukraine's Wall project on border with Russia implemented by a mere 40% (Document)

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(5 June 2020) Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhii Deineko stated on 5 May 2021 that Ukraine had built 400 km of anti-tank trench, 100 km of fence and 70 km of barbed wire as part of "Project Wall". According to him, border guards were completing work on the border in Kharkiv Oblast, part of the work was performed in

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast (), also referred to as Chernihivshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northern Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. There are 1,511 sett ...

, one site was completed in

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

, and in

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...

so far only design and survey works were underway. On 24 February 2022, the construction of the barrier was temporarily stopped when Russia invaded Ukraine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russia-Ukraine barrier Russia–Ukraine border Fortification lines Engineering projects Buildings and structures under construction in Ukraine Buildings and structures in Chernihiv Oblast Buildings and structures in Kharkiv Oblast Border barriers Corruption in Ukraine

History

See also

References