A border security biometric system for foreign citizens and stateless persons will be put into place at Kyiv's international airports and border checkpoints, including those on the border with Russia, on January 1, 2018.

The system and its functionalities were presented at Kyiv International Airport on Thursday, an Interfax correspondent reported from the ground.

"On orders from the National Security and Defense Committee (NSDC), the government has approved a list of countries posing migration risks, the highest of which comes from Russia. Spies, saboteurs, and provocateurs are coming from that country. We will be solving this problem starting next year," NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said at the presentation.

Information collected by this system will be transferred to the national system of verification and identification of Ukrainian citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons, Turchynov said.

'These measures will bolster our security [...], 157 checkpoints have been equipped with hardware which will read the biometric data of persons wishing to enter our country," he said.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry also plans to launch a system, which would record the presence of citizens of migration-risk countries in Ukraine, he said.

"Any fake passports given to intelligence agents and spies under assumed names will not work. This is why the Russians are so nervous," Turchynov said.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said, for his part, that the border security biometric system will not create any problems for citizens of countries "which have adequate relations, extensive agreements, and information exchanges with us, such as the EU, Canada, and the United States."

"This system will protect us from shady characters from Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. This list will be subject to constant monitoring, and the NSDC will be making relevant decisions," Avakov said.