FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony to award Gold Star medals to Heroes of Russia on the eve of Heroes of the Fatherland Day, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia December 8, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the strengthening of Russia鈥檚 borders and instructed special services to keep greater control of society and to ensure the safety of people in regions in Ukraine that Moscow claims as its own, news agencies reported.
鈥淲ork must be intensified through the border services and the Federal Security Service (FSB),鈥� Russia鈥檚 state-owned RIA news agency cited Putin as saying.
鈥淎nd it (the border) must be reliably covered. Any attempts to violate it must be thwarted quickly and effectively using whatever forces and means we have at our disposal, including mobile action units and special forces.鈥�
Speaking on Security Services Day, widely celebrated in Russia, Putin instructed on Monday the services to increase control of the society and maximize their 鈥渦se of the operational, technical and personnel potential鈥� to prevent risks coming from abroad and internal traitors.
鈥淢aximum composure, concentration of forces is now required from counterintelligence agencies, including military intelligence,鈥� TASS state agency cited Putin as saying. 鈥淚t is necessary to severely suppress the actions of foreign special services, quickly identify traitors, spies, and saboteurs.鈥�
READ: Putin finalizes 鈥榓nnexation鈥� in Ukraine even as troops flee front
He also said that it is the tasks of special services to ensure the safety of people living in regions in Ukraine that Moscow claimed in September as their own 鈥� and which Kyiv and its Western allies called an illegal annexation.
鈥淚t is your duty to do everything necessary to ensure their security to the maximum, respect for their rights and freedoms,鈥� Putin said, promising them more 鈥渕odern equipment and weapons.鈥�
There is no end in sight to Russia鈥檚 invasion in Ukraine, now in its 10th month. The conflict, Europe鈥檚 largest since World War Two, has killed tens of thousands of people, driven millions from their homes, and reduced cities to ruins.
Moscow calls its invasion a 鈥渟pecial operation鈥� to denazify and demilitarize its neighbor. Kyiv and its allies in the West call it an unprovoked act of land grab.
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