PUTIN ASKS FORCES TO SECURE NATION’S BORDERS

Tue 20 December 2022:

Putin has ordered the Federal Security Service (FSB) to step up surveillance of Russian society and the country’s borders to prevent risks from abroad and traitors at home.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Security Services Day – widely celebrated in Russia – Putin said the “emergence of new threats” increases the need for greater intelligence activity.

“Work must be intensified through the border services and the Federal Security Service (FSB),” Putin said.

“Any attempts to violate it (the border) must be thwarted quickly and effectively using whatever forces and means we have at our disposal, including mobile action units and special forces.”

Situation in annexed regions ‘extremely difficult’

Putin says the situation in four territories of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed is “extremely difficult”.

“The situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult,” Putin told the Russian security services on their professional holiday.

He singled out those working in the “new regions of Russia”. “The people living there, the citizens of Russia, rely on you, on your protection,” he said.

US and Iran clash over Russia using Iran drones in Ukraine

The United States and its allies have clashed with Iran and its ally Russia over Western claims that Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been attacking Ukraine – and the US accused the UN secretary-general of “yielding to Russian threats” and failing to launch an investigation.

Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that all restrictions on transferring arms to and from Iran were terminated in October 2020 and that Western claims that Tehran needed prior approval “has no legal merit”.

Iravani also insisted that drones were not transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine, saying “the misinformation campaign and baseless allegations … serve no purpose other than to divert attention from Western states’ transfer of massive amounts of advanced, sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine in order to prolong the conflict”.

China, Russia hold joint naval exercises to ‘deepen’ partnership

Joint exercises between the Chinese and Russian navy in the East China Sea that begin this week will “further deepen” cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, China has announced.

The drills will be held off the coast of Zhejiang province south of Shanghai from Wednesday until next Tuesday, according to a brief notice posted on Monday by China’s Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army.

“This joint exercise is directed at demonstrating the determination and capability of the two sides to jointly respond to maritime security threats… and further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive new-era strategic partnership of coordination,” the notice said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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