Caesar bares his teeth and throws himself at the grill with a growl. The menacing German shepherd is the comrade of the frontier troops guarding the border of Armenia.

The Leninakan Red border detachment is one of the oldest among border troops of both Armenia and Russia. It was established on May 20, 1924, and a few days ago celebrated its 88th anniversary. Now Russian frontier guards are on duty in Armenia same way as they were almost 90 years ago. The reason why Russian Border Troops are in the territory of the Armenian Republic is the agreement signed between the two countries in Yerevan on September 30, 1992. The troops guard Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran.

The Leninakan frontiers guard a territory which is 132 km long. The first outpost is located at the junction of three countries - Armenia, Turkey and Georgia.

“The territory is a difficult one, it is tense, the largest in extent. It is located in three climate zones, there are mountainous, river and lake regions,” the commander of the unit Yuri Aysin says.

During the year of its establishment the unit eliminated several criminal groups. In 1940-2005, 684 violations of state border and more than 80 thousand violations of the border regime were registered.

The officers of the Military border detachment took an active part in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of December 7, 1988. For courage and heroism more than 30 officers and warrant officers of the ten conscripts were awarded medals.

Nowadays the state border is mostly violated from the Turkish side. Thus, last year many cases of border violations were registered as Turkish fishermen swim to the Armenian part of the Akhuryan river. Last year, the frontiers seized about 3 miles of Turkish fishing gear. A serious incident was registered in September, 2011.

“Our border guards took part in the expulsion of the violator: we even had to use firearms. The violator of the state border was injured,” the commander of the unit told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, the violator carried out acts of provocation, cursed, then began throwing stones and different objects at the unit.

Violations of the border rarely happen from the Armenian side.

“We are conducting preventive works,” Yuri Aysin explained.

The financing of the Military border detachment is done 50/50 by the Armenian and Russian governments. 75 percent of the servicemen are on contracts.

According to the commander, all appropriate living conditions for the servicemen and their families are provided. Much attention is paid to the detachment by the local government, regional administration, city hall, the Russian General Consulate in Gyumri. There are also a lot of mixed marriages in the unit and on the outposts. It happens that a young man comes to serve here, finds a girl in the nearby village, they gets married and live happily, the commander smiles.

The unit also has a kindergarten and a school. The school has 87 students and 20 teachers.

“The children of the servicemen and also those of the civilian staff are studying at our school. There are also children from the city – the children of Russian citizens,” the school headmaster Karina Chayliyan said.

According to the headmaster, the school has some problems. It does not have a gym and lacks textbooks. The graduates of the schools enter universities in Armenia and Russia, some of them serve at the same unit.

The kindergarten has 32 children.

Outpost number 13 is located on the bank of the Akhuryan reservoir. The silver surface of the water, the green shore, and a herd of cows create a misleading picture of a peaceful cozy corner of a countryside. However, the observation tower and the defense building bring one back to reality - even the cows pass with permission. Lieutenant Mikhail Khachatryan is the commander of the outpost. There are no conscripts at this outpost, only contract servicemen. Women also serve here along with men.

Mariam Levina