---
title: "\"Half the population drew a wall for themselves\": Yatsenyuk admitted the main mistake of his government"
description: "Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, acknowledged that he had underestimated the information campaigns against the \"Wall\" project on the border with Russia, comparing the literal perception of the name to the idea of an \"Iron Dome\" made of iron."
date: 2026-08-27T06:28:02.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/yatsenyuk-admits-mistake-wall-project-russian-border
tags: [yatsenyuk, ukraine-russia-border, european-rampart, information-warfare, ukraine-politics, critical-thinking]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# "Half the population drew a wall for themselves": Yatsenyuk admitted the main mistake of his government

![Arseniy Yatsenyuk in a light suit with a Ukrainian flag pin on his lapel spreads his hands in an explanatory gesture, acknowledging the main mistake of his government](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/27/yatsenyuk-priznal-oshibku-proekt-stena-granitsa-rf/yatsenyuk-priznal-oshibku-proekt-stena-granitsa-rf-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Yatsenyuk admitted that he had underestimated the scale of discreditation campaigns around the project for developing the border with Russia
- The former prime minister compared the literal perception of the name "Wall" to the idea of an "Iron Dome" made of iron
- The 2014 "European Rampart" project provided for anti-tank ditches, towers, and cameras, not a solid concrete fence
- By September 2016, the overall readiness of the project was 12%, while in some regions it reached up to 47%

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine as part of the special project "Ukraine: 35 Years of Independence," publicly acknowledged that he had greatly underestimated the power of the information machine and the scale of discreditation campaigns directed against his government. According to the politician, it was around one of the key projects of his cabinet — the engineering development of the state border with Russia — that the largest number of myths and manipulations formed, which, in his assessment, continue to live in public consciousness to this day.

### An "Iron Dome" made of iron and a "firewall" made of fire

Yatsenyuk explained that the government had explained in detail the key objectives of the project, but part of society took the name "Wall" too literally, imagining a solid concrete fence along the entire border. The former prime minister gave a number of analogies to illustrate the absurdity of such a perception: "It's like thinking that the 'Iron Dome' over Israel should literally be made of iron, or that an antivirus Firewall in a cyber network is actually fire. Well, I couldn't have thought of such a thing. And that's my problem, I should have thought about it." He emphasized that the project was about a comprehensive engineering system, not a physical monolithic barrier.

### What the "European Rampart" actually provided for

The "European Rampart" project, which in public discourse was called the "Wall," was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in the autumn of 2014. According to its technical specification, the construction of anti-tank ditches, observation towers, dome video cameras, and various engineering barriers was planned along the Ukrainian-Russian border. In 2015, the Ukrainian Border Service stated that the total cost of implementing the project would not exceed 4 billion hryvnia. Thus, the project was predominantly of a defensive-engineering nature and did not envisage the construction of a single continuous wall in the everyday sense of the word.

### Construction progress and regional asymmetry

According to data released in September 2016, the overall readiness of the "Wall" on the border with Russia was about 12%. At the same time, the regional dynamics varied significantly: in Kharkiv Oblast the figure reached 47%, and in Chernihiv Oblast — 46%. This asymmetry was explained by the different length of border sections, the terrain, and the priority of directions, but it was precisely the gap between the national figure of 12% and the regional values above 40% that could further fuel public discussions about the "incompleteness" of the project.

### Critical thinking as a vulnerable point

Summing up his reflections on the communication failure, Yatsenyuk stated that the situation had underscored the acute need to teach society critical thinking, although, in his words, this process turns out to be extremely difficult and ambiguously perceived. "Well, you only start teaching people to think critically, and what do they start doing? They sincerely hate you," the former prime minister concluded, acknowledging that he had not taken into account how quickly simplified narratives could push technical explanations out of the public sphere. His statement was made in the context of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence and became one of the few public admissions of a systemic error in the work of the 2014–2016 government.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- ["Half the population drew a wall for themselves": Yatsenyuk named his mistake with the project on the border with Russia](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/polovina-narodu-namalyuvala-sobi-stinu-tsenyuk-1787810892.html) - Прямое цитирование из интервью Яценюка в рамках спецпроекта РБК-Украина «Украина: 35 лет независимости». Все ключевые тезисы, аналогии и цифры (4 млрд грн, 12%, 47%, 46%) соответствуют тексту источника.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What is the "European Rampart" project and why was it called the "Wall"?
**A:** The "European Rampart" is a project for the engineering development of the Ukrainian-Russian border, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in the autumn of 2014. It included anti-tank ditches, observation towers, dome video cameras, and engineering barriers. In public discourse, the project received the simplified name "Wall," which, according to Yatsenyuk's admission, led to a distortion of the perception of its essence.

### Q: What was the readiness of the project by 2016?
**A:** According to data from September 2016, the overall readiness of the "Wall" on the border with Russia was about 12%. In some regions the figures were higher: in Kharkiv Oblast — 47%, in Chernihiv Oblast — 46%.

### Q: How much did the "European Rampart" project cost?
**A:** In 2015, the Ukrainian Border Service stated that the total cost of implementing the project would not exceed 4 billion hryvnia.

### Q: Where and in what context did Yatsenyuk make these statements?
**A:** The statements were made in an interview with RBC-Ukraine as part of the special project "Ukraine: 35 Years of Independence," timed to the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.