MOSCOWcrashteamracingnitrofueledps5, Aug. 15 (Xinhua)--The Russian defense ministry said on Thursday that it had established a coordination council on military security issues in border areas.

Defense minister Andrey Belousov held the first meeting of the council.

The council is responsible for handling the military security issues covering Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, said Belousov, adding that it aims to improve the efficiency of comprehensive support for battlegroups protecting the state border, the territory and population of the regions.

According to the defense ministry, the newly-established council will also focus on engineering work on the territory of regions and military-medical provision, namely, coordinating forces and capabilities for evacuating affected people.■