KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered officials to tighten control of the border with Ukraine after a spate of drone attacks that Russian authorities blamed on Kyiv delivered a new challenge to Moscow more than a year after its full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
While Putin didn’t refer to any specific attacks in a speech in Moscow, his comments came 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 Tuesday, several Russian television stations aired a missile attack warning that officials blamed on a hacking attack.
The attacks caused no casualties but provoked a security stir as the war with Kyiv stretched into its second year last week.
Ukrainian officials didn’t immediately claim responsibility for the attacks, but they similarly avoided directly acknowledging responsibility for previous strikes and sabotage while emphasizing Ukraine’s right to hit any target in Russia following the full-scale invasion that began last year.
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, with one drone crashing just 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from Moscow, according to local Russian authorities.
A drone fell near the village of Gubastovo, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital, said in an online statement.
The drone didn’t inflict any damage, Vorobyov said. He didn’t specifically describe the drone as Ukrainian, but said that it likely targeted “a civilian infrastructure object.”
Pictures of the drone showed it was a Ukrainian-made type. It reportedly has a range of up to 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles), but isn’t capable of carrying a large load of explosives.
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Flurry of drone strikes hits Russia as TV, radio are hacked https://t.co/C5bIgNEWEE pic.twitter.com/GWiWcR8dWS
— The Hill (@thehill) February 28, 2023
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