Khabarovsk border guards have opened the Amur navigation season

Patrol ships and boats, polished to a shine, are moored off the coast. In winter, when the Amur is frozen in ice, the crews put the ships in order so that they can reach the defense of the state border in time. Today the engines are running, the sailors are in full combat readiness.

“We are launching the official activities of the border control naval personnel for their main purpose – protecting the borders of our Motherland. The crews are faced with a task that gives no room for error and requires high professionalism, perseverance and courage,” said Anatoly Utkin, head of the FSB border department for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Since 1908, border ships have protected Russian borders on the Amur and Ussuri. Today the 116th navigation on not the easiest rivers opens.

“We live in a border city, we are all on the border, but you are the very first and necessary people who protect us from attacks. You are guarding the state border, you are protecting our biological resources. We look at you and are proud of you,” said Khabarovsk Mayor Sergei Kravchuk.

Before ships go on combat duty, according to an old naval tradition, commanders are presented with roasted pigs. The crews were also congratulated by young border guards from the school in the village of Kazakevichevo. The gangplanks are removed, the flags are hoisted, the ships are weighed down – and under the “Farewell of the Slav” the first border ship “Typhoon” sets out on the voyage.

The ships and boats went to the areas of responsibility of the border rivers Ussuri and Amur. The sailors are tasked with guarding the border with China, stopping attempts to cross it illegally, protecting biological resources from poachers, and ensuring control of shipping.