MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to tighten security on the border with Ukraine, after several drones targeted areas deep inside the Russian territory.
Putin made the remarks during a speech at a meeting of the Federal Security Service (FSB) board in the capital Moscow on Tuesday, without referring to any specific attacks. However, his comments came hours after drones, which the Kremlin said were launched by Ukraine, hit several regions in southern and western Russia.
The drone strikes occurred on Monday and Tuesday night, with one crashing just 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, while two others were brought down in southern Russia.
There were no reports of casualties.
Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said in a statement that the drone that fell near the village of Gubastovo did not cause any damage, but it likely targeted “a civilian infrastructure facility.”
Russian forces have thwarted an air attack on the Crimean peninsula, neutralizing a total of ten Ukrainian drones, the Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry announced that Russian forces “have prevented an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a massive drone attack on objects in the Crimean peninsula.”
It added that six Ukrainian attack drones were taken down by air defenses, while another four were disabled by means of electronic warfare. “There were no casualties or destruction on the ground,” the ministry stated.
It also noted that apart from these aircraft, in the past day the Russian military had destroyed another 15 Ukrainian drones in Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region – where Moscow’s forces are conducting a military operation.
A fire broke out at an oil depot in Krasnodar, and some other Russian reports said that two drones exploded nearby, according to Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency.