Ukrainian border guards and law enforcement officers will be able to use all the means of protection provided by law, including firearms, in the event of threats to their lives arising from the aggressive actions of violators of the border with Belarus, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said.

"We will use the tactics of echelon cover of the state border. Thus, the first composition of the echelon will be unarmed - only with protective equipment. In the event of aggressive actions by border violators, the personnel of the second echelon are provided with the use of the necessary special means and weapons. And we understand that in case of threats to the life and health of border guards and law enforcement officers, we will use all the means of protection provided by law, including firearms," Monastyrsky said at the Hour of Questions to the Government in parliament on Friday.

He also said that there is no goal "to place border guards along 1,084 km of the state border, but to determine the base points for the formation of the reserve, which should reach critical points of the state border [from Russia and Belarus], within 30 to 60 minutes."

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that this is the standard time during which, after receiving operational information from the intelligence agencies, the necessary forces and means must be transferred.