The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service has decided to increase the number of border patrols and tighten security measures on the southern Kherson region's border with Crimea ahead of Sunday's presidential election, a spokesman for the local border patrol, Ivan Shevtsov, said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service has decided to increase the number of border patrols and tighten security measures on the southern Kherson region's border with Crimea ahead of Sunday's presidential election, a spokesman for the local border patrol, Ivan Shevtsov, said on Friday.
"For the entire election period and on the Election Day, the number of border patrols [charged with] checking documents and vehicles at checkpoints on the administrative border with Crimea will be increased in order to accelerate [the process]," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the UNN news portal.
Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014 after nearly 97 percent of those who voted in a regional referendum voiced their support for the reunification. The international community refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the referendum, while Moscow maintains that the vote was held in accordance with international law and was legitimate, stressing that Crimean residents voluntarily chose to rejoin Russia.
Kiev, in turn, views Crimea as a "temporarily occupied" part of Ukraine and has banned foreigners from entering the peninsula.
A total of 39 candidates will compete for the Ukrainian presidency in the first round of the election this Sunday. According to the latest SOCIS poll, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy is leading in the race with 24.6 percent of the potential vote. Meanwhile, 14.8 percent support incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, and 8.7 percent intend to vote for the leader of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, Yulia Tymoshenko.
