Kremlin “concerned” about wall on Ukrainian border

Russia is "concerned" about the ecological risks of building a wall on the Ukrainian border and will appeal to the World Wildlife Fund to evaluate the environmental impact of the construction, reports UNIAN, citing Izvestia, September 12. Mikhail Degtyarev, the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and High Technologies, has prepared an appeal to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia and the World Wildlife Fund to organize an international commission on environmental monitoring and assessment of building walls and other structures on the border between Russia and Ukraine, as decided by Ukrainian authorities, reports Izvestia. According to Degtyarev, Ukraine's plans may cause considerable damage to the flora and fauna of five Russian regions bordering the planned large-scale construction. "Ukraine's pseudo-leaders do not think about their own people and nature, but we need to think about them. American propaganda can divide the people, but nature cannot be divided. Ecologists must understand what Prime Minister A. Yasteniuk has decided to do in the region of the border, assess the possible damage to the flora and fauna, and then get the whole world to stop this madness," he announced. At the direction of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, preliminary work on the installation of artificial barriers on the border between Ukraine and Russia began on September 10. As announced by the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) press center, "plans call for the creation of two defensive borders designed primarily to prevent the enemy's entry into Ukraine." The core project encompasses thousands of kilometers of trenches for personnel, armored vehicles and communication lines, more than 4,000 dugouts, and the creation of a 60-kilometer permanent barrier. Translator's note: Degtyarov's previous "science and high technology" projects include a proposed ban on the use or possession of dollars to protect Russians from the dollar "Ponzi scheme," plans for state-sponsored "cures" for homosexuality, and the proposal to give working women days off during the "critical days" when they are menstruating. [hr] UNIAN, translated by Anna Mostovych