How to end the conflict in Ukraine? Build a wall in the east
A Ukrainian oligarch has offered $136 million to build a six-foot high wall to keep Russian support from flowing through Ukraine's porous border.
A pro-Russia separatist patrols near a maternity ward in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk on June 16, 2014.
Shamil Zhumatov
KIEV
Ukraine鈥檚 leaders are puzzling over how to cut off Russian support for a separatist rebellion in the east of the country but one of its richest men thinks he has the answer.聽
Billionaire businessman聽Ihor Kolomoisky聽has suggested building a wall along the almost 1,200-mile land border with聽Russia聽to prevent fighters and weapons flooding in.聽
The idea may sound absurd but Kolomoisky has offered to stump up $136 million to fund the six-foot high, 10-12 inch thick wall of reinforced steel, complete with electronic alarms, trenches and minefields.聽
What's more, it's been done before.聽Israel聽has constructed a barrier to keep out Palestinian militants.聽China聽built the Great Wall to stop invaders. Soviet-led聽East Germany聽erected the聽Berlin聽Wall, though more to keep people in than out.
"We can take on this project from start to finish," said聽Alexei Burik, deputy head of the聽Dnipropetrovsk聽region where Kolomoisky is the governor, offering to lead construction work.
President聽Petro Poroshenko聽may or may not be about to build such a wall but the growing discussion of the oligarch's idea highlights deep security concerns in聽Ukraine, three months after聽Russia聽annexed the聽Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.聽
The Russian invasion of聽east聽Ukraine聽expected by many Ukrainians has not come. But in several weeks of fighting, pro-Russian separatists have seized a number of border posts, enabling them to bring in weapons and other supplies.聽
Securing the long and winding, and notoriously porous, border has become Poroshenko's most pressing problem as he tries to put down the rebellion and hold聽Ukraine聽together.
Fighting near the border has been among the fiercest of the conflict and 30 servicemen were wounded overnight in new clashes in Luhansk, a border guard command center.
PUBLICITY STUNT?
Kolomoisky, a 51-year-old banking, media, energy and metallurgy magnate with a fortune estimated by聽Forbes magazine at $1.8 billion, has presented his plan to Poroshenko and reckons the wall can be built in about six months.
Some analysts dismiss the idea as a stunt.
"In the short term, it cannot be done," said Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think tank. Another analyst, Mykhailo Pohrebinsky, said: "This is a public relations campaign meant to consolidate Kolomoisky's image as a Ukrainian patriot."
Despite such criticism, the proposal is not being dismissed in parliament as a crackpot idea.
"Whether or not it is Kolomoisky's project, a wall will be built to defend聽Ukraine聽from聽Russia's aggression," said Ivan Stojko, a parliamentary deputy from the聽Batkyvshina party聽led by former prime minister聽Yulia Tymoshenko.
Pavlo Rizanenko, a deputy from the Udar (Punch) party of former boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, said: "I don't think Poroshenko has a monopoly on this idea. It's something that should have been done long ago."
The sight of rebels driving tanks in聽east聽Ukraine聽last Thursday increased the urgency of securing control of the border. Two days later, the rebels shot down a military plane with a missile, killing 49 servicemen.
Russia聽says it is not providing military support for the rebellion across much of the Donbass mining region. But its denials were undermined by satellite pictures released by NATO showing what it said were Russian tanks at a staging area close to the border days before similar tanks appeared in聽Ukraine.
The聽United States聽has also accused聽Moscow聽of supplying the rebels with T-64 tanks, MB-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launchers and other military vehicles.
SECURE BORDER BEFORE TRUCE
Poroshenko, who replaced a聽Moscow-leaning president toppled in February after street protests, has ordered the armed forces to secure the frontier and says a 160-mile stretch of the border has already been taken back. Once the border is secure, a truce can start and peace talks begin, he said.
His comments signaled a continuation of his dual policy of talking peace while pressing a military campaign in the east.
He wants聽Ukraine聽to demarcate the border on its own side, and build unspecified infrastructure there, which could mean erecting fences in villages that straddle the border.
Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of聽Ukraine's聽Security Council, estimated聽Russia聽had 16,000 soldiers on or near the border with聽Ukraine聽and 22,000 in Crimea, plus 3,500 in聽Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region to the west.
Russia聽has balked at Kiev's proposals for tightening border security and says its moves are meant to fuel tension. But for some Ukrainians, building a wall has a clear appeal.
"Either we build a wall and forget about聽Russia, or let these madmen in Donbass live under (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. I'd prefer the wall and would be ready to give them some money to help build it," said聽Irina Sorokun, a Kiev pensioner.