The Ukrainian UJ22 drone that crashed near Moscow.
Tue 28 February 2023:
Following a wave of drone attacks that Moscow blamed on Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials to tighten border controls with Ukraine. This comes a year after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Tuesday’s drone crash, which occurred just 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, was a alarming development for Russian defenses.
While Putin didn’t refer to any specific attacks in a speech in the Russian capital, he stepped up border controls hours after drone attacks targeted several areas in southern and western Russia and authorities closed the airspace over St Petersburg in response to what some reports said was a drone.
Also on Tuesday, several Russian television stations aired a missile attack warning that officials blamed on hacking.
The Russian leader said 2022 was “special” for the Federal Security Service, as its staff have been taking part in Moscow’s “special military operation” and gained “invaluable combat experience.”
“The Federal Security Service and our other intelligence services have accumulated the same experience (as other law enforcement and military units) over the past year, and we are also obliged to use it fully to strengthen the national security of our country, to protect the state, society, and the rights and freedoms of our citizens,” he urged.
He urged the Russian security agency to pay close attention to the protection of the digital space, energy infrastructure and countering terrorist threat to prevent recruitment of radicals to use them against Russia.
A flurry of drone attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning targeted regions inside Russia along the border with Ukraine and deeper into the country, according to local Russian authorities.
A drone fell near the village of Gubastovo, 100km (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital, said in a statement.
Pictures of the drone showed it was a Ukrainian-made type. It reportedly has a range of up to 800km (nearly 500 miles) but isn’t capable of carrying a large load of explosives.
Russian forces early on Tuesday shot down a Ukrainian drone over the southwestern region of Bryansk, Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said in a Telegram post. He said there were no casualties in the incident not far from the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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