Ukraine war: Russia’s Putin warns of new threats as he promotes unity with ally Belarus
- Putin makes rare admission that the invasion of Ukraine was not going smoothly
- Moldova fears new Russian push towards breakaway east next year, spy chief says
President Vladimir Putin said the situation in four areas of Ukraine that Moscow has declared are part of Russia was “extremely difficult” and ordered security services to step up surveillance to secure its borders and combat new threats.
Putin’s comments made on Security Services Day, widely celebrated in Russia, came as Kyiv renewed calls for more weapons after Russian drones hit energy targets and as fears grow that Moscow’s ally Belarus could open a new invasion front against Ukraine.
Putin ordered the Federal Security Services (FSB) to step up surveillance of Russian society and the country’s borders to combat the “emergence of new threats” from abroad and traitors at home.
In a rare admission of the invasion of Ukraine not going smoothly, Putin cautioned about the difficult situation in Ukraine’s regions that Moscow moved to annex in September and ordered the FSB to ensure the “safety” of people living there.
“The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely difficult,” Putin said late on Monday in comments translated by Reuters.
In September, a defiant Putin moved to annex a swathe of Ukraine – some 15 per cent of the country – in a Kremlin ceremony, but earlier this month, he said the war “can be a long process”.
