In early February 2023, officials of Russia's Bryansk region proudly claimed that they had reinforced the border with Ukraine in the course of the first year of the war. The governor, Alexander Bogomaz, even met with officers from the so-called “separate grouping of forces for border protection” and boasted about how the military commanders were praising the formidable fortifications. Little did he know, that just three weeks later, the border will be inspected again by his compatriots. The only problem is that it will be inspected and then crossed not from the Russian side but from a Ukrainian one.