Russia Plans to Abolish Borders With Occupied Ukrainian Territories

Russia is preparing to eliminate border zones with occupied Ukrainian territories, including the administrative line between annexed Crimea and the Kherson region. Draft orders from the FSB indicate these changes are necessary following Moscow's declaration of incorporating Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation in autumn 2022.

The external boundaries of these regions are now considered Russia's state border with Ukraine. The proposal suggests that border zones within the annexed Crimea would be limited to "Russian-owned Black Sea islands." The FSB's Crimean administration would regulate entry points and times and install warning signs.

Previously, access to occupied Ukrainian territories from Russia's Rostov and Voronezh regions required adherence to a special border regime with restrictions and strict control by Russian security forces. The new plan shifts border control to the external frontiers of the occupied Ukrainian territories. Currently, several checkpoints operate between Russia's Rostov region and the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Customs checks are reportedly no longer conducted at the borders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics with Russian regions. Documents from the Southern Customs Administration also indicate that customs control has been suspended for goods transported across the borders of these "new regions" with the Rostov region and Crimea. The implementation of the new order would render previous FSB orders regulating border zones in Rostov, Voronezh, and Crimea obsolete.