Russian border guards complain of poor equipment: they are afraid of raids and Ukrainian drones - ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analysts reported this.

The publication notes that the Russian Border Guard Service employees expressed dissatisfaction with such limited capabilities, similar to the complaints of the Russian military from the occupation contingent in Ukraine.

Thus, border guards expressed concern about possible Ukrainian raids into Russia.

Russian milblogger who serves on the Kremlin’s human rights council amplified complaints that the Russian had authorities poorly equip border guard units and failed to supply them with sufficient digital communications systems, reconnaissance and strike drones, mobile transport, and medical supplies.

The milblogger noted that these grievances come from almost all border service departments within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). He noted that modern border units need similar capabilities to those that participated in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which were equipped with artillery, aircraft, and armored vehicles.

It was reported that the milblogger claimed border guard units only receive anti-tank missiles and mortars from personal connections with Russian military units, and advocated for Russian authorities to provide better equipment to current border guards, especially those in Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts, which border Ukraine.

“The milblogger’s reference to the Soviet border guards’ participation in the war in Afghanistan and call for the provision of more complex systems suggest that Russian border guards continue to be concerned about the threat of possible Ukrainian cross-border raids into Russia and Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory," the publication writes.

• On the night of September 13, the governor of Russia's neighboring Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, reported a drone attack on the city of Rylsk.