Putin orders border security to ensure “fast movement” into Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Sunday ordered border security to ensure ‘fast’ Russian military and civilian movement into Ukrainian regions that are now under the control of Moscow, TASS, a Russian News Agency reported. in his address on the occasion of Border Guards Day, Putin said, “Securing the border in close proximity to the field of operations is a separate and very important task. At the same time, it is vitally important to ensure fast movement of both military and civil vehicles and cargo, including food, humanitarian aid, and construction materials on their way to new constituent entities of the Russian Federation – the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.”

Putin also noted the necessity of close cooperation between border guards and other units of the Federal Security Service, the Armed Forces and the National Guard of the Russian Federation, as well as regional government bodies, reported TASS. “I have great confidence in you, your professionalism and bravery, and know that you will do everything in your power to securely protect our Motherland’s borders from any threat,” Putin emphasized.

Meanwhile, Ukraine officials said that a wave of Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv left one person dead and sparked fires around the city, CNN reported on Sunday. Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitshko said Ukrainian air defence forces had “already intercepted more than 20 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)” heading toward the capital and warned that “a new wave of drones is on its way.”

The Ukrainian Air Force said later that 54 Iranian Shahed drones had been launched by Russia overnight and that 52 of them had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces, as per the report in CNN. “The enemy launched another overnight attack on military facilities and critical infrastructure in the country’s central regions, specifically Kyiv Oblast. Near the zone Air Command ‘Center’, most of the attack drones were destroyed!” the air force said in a Twitter post.

A 41-year-old man died in the city’s Solomyanskyi district following the attacks, while falling drone debris at a gas station injured a 35-year-old woman, Mayor Klitshko said. Falling drone debris also sparked fires in buildings across the capital, the mayor said on Telegram, reported CNN.