On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed officials to strengthen border surveillance with Ukraine following a series of drone assaults that Russian authorities attributed to Kyiv, posing a new obstacle to Moscow over a year after its complete takeover of the neighboring country.

A single drone’s crash just 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow is a worrying development for Russian defense systems, the Associated Press has reported.

Although Russian President Putin did not mention any particular assaults in his speech in Moscow, his statements came shortly after multiple drone attacks hit various regions in southern and western Russia, leading authorities to shut down the airspace above St. Petersburg in response to reports of a possible drone.

On Tuesday, a missile alert warning was broadcasted by several Russian television networks, which authorities attributed to a cyber attack, as reported by the AP.

While the conflict with Kyiv extended into its second year last week, the drone strikes did not result in any casualties but prompted a security commotion.

Although Ukrainian officials did not immediately accept responsibility for the drone attacks, they also refrained from explicitly acknowledging their role in previous acts of sabotage and strikes, emphasizing instead their right to strike any target in Russia in response to the full-scale invasion that started last year.

Written by staff