We are about to visit the place where two countries are bordering: Kazakhstan and China. You can see now what a military service of Kazakh soldiers there is like.
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This shabby wooden bridge separates the two states. The shadow side belongs to China.
Makanchi border unit is one of the oldest in the country. This year it turned 85. All Kazakh border units have to control more than fifteen thousand kilometres (9.5 thousand miles) of state border with five countries.
They usually place their units in remote highlands and they are usually temporary. They leave when winter comes, because severe Kazakh winters leave no chances for illegal breaking the border.
This is “Karabas” frontier. It is in the old building of 1960. And they are not the oldest. The oldest have been used since 1932. All the infrastructure has been working since the collapse of the USSR.
The only women present here are a cook and a wife of the frontier chief. Women are rare in such places and families often cannot withstand such conditions.
The border duty lasts since 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. They don’t have weekends but once a year they have vacation which sometimes lasts up to two months.
In case of war they should remain in a battle for twenty-thirty minutes.
The maps are not allowed to be shot.
They live in a state of constant combat readiness.
Even draftees are immediately given a rifle with live ammunition.
Hazing is not frequent here though it can happen sometimes. They sooner resemble a family.
The classes are taught in Kazakh.
There are only eight outposts in the country named after those who were killed in the line of duty. They all have been existing since the times of the USSR.
The other day they detained several Wahhabis, who offered the local population to take courses in Taldykorgan and in Pakistan.
The service here is rather quiet. They catch one or two offenders in a month.
The menu is rather good. When someone has a birthday they even have cakes.
Local shepherds often help frontier guards. When they meet strangers they often invite them to have tea and quietly call the frontier guards. Last year they caught some offenders this way.
They have to surrender their weapons in the end of the shift.
Fresh air makes the guards hungry. The cook is about to cook potatoes with meat.
They have to do everything by themselves: mow grass, bake bread, repair equipment, take care of horses and dogs – it’s a chance to de-stress.
Schoolchildren are often taken here for excursions.
This road is used specially to detect traces of defectors. It is renewed monthly. In winter snow also helps the frontier guards.
The guards stage a border operation.
Trained dogs are 50% of success.
The search team is informed about an upcoming offender.
Dual alarm system, watch towers, border guards with dogs – this is how they protect the border.
The traces of the offender are filled with gypsum to save from adverse weather. They are used as material evidence.
These are the offenders: a Chinese shepherd and a Chinese insane guy who was trying to find an airport and lost his way.
They learn fast how to deal with weapons.
They use Kalashnikov of 1974.
It’s a munition room there.
The guys say they can’t imagine their life without this service. They live half of their lives with families here.
via voxpopuli
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