Ten voluntary border patrols of local civilians are currently operating within the Nikel border guard service. In the course of the last 10 months these patrols have warned border guard forces about irregularities more than a thousand times.
The voluntary border patrols’ misson is surveillance of the border regime, participation in search after persons suspected of violating the border regime and information and preventive work among the local population. - This help is invaluable, says commander of the Nikel border guard detachment, Colonel Vladimir Bobrov to newspaper Pechenga.
- With aid from our voluntary helpers, more than 50 persons were held liable for breaking the border regime and yet another 20 for trespassing. The almost forgotten slogan about the border being protected by the whole people, remains in force here, the Colonel says.
According to the Russian law on border regime, the voluntary border patrols have the right to check the documents of every person staying in the border zone.
The Nikel border detachment is deployed along the 196 km long border between Russia and Norway and is subordinated to the Murmansk Oblast Border Directorate of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
