Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called on his top intelligence agency, the Federal Security Services (FSB), and other security sectors to intensify the hunt for “traitors, spies and saboteurs” as his war in Ukraine escalates. It staggers.
“Counterintelligence agencies, including the military, must show maximum readiness and concentration,” Putin said in a video speech calling on all security agencies to combat terrorism and protect “crowded places, strategic facilities, as well as as means of transportation. and energy infrastructure.
“It is necessary to put a firm stop to the activities of foreign special services and quickly identify traitors, spies and saboteurs,” he said, according to a translation by the Moscow Times.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference at the Independence Palace December 19, 2022 in Minsk, Belarus.
(Contributor/Getty Images)
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In addition, he called on the FSB Border Guard to protect Russia’s borders, including those of the annexed regions that Putin tried to seize earlier this year.
“Now they face difficult tasks,” he said in some of his harshest comments yet on the situation in eastern and southern Ukraine. “The situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is extremely complicated.”
Russian troops have not only failed to advance in the regions in recent months, but have also lost significant ground in Ukraine beginning in September, when their soldiers were forced to withdraw from Kharkiv.
Subsequently, Russian troops were forced to withdraw from the city of Kherson in November and cross the Dnieper River, which separates the city from the eastern Kherson region.
Putin called up his flag troops, saying it is their “duty” to protect Russian citizens in the annexed regions.
A boy has his national flag of Ukraine signed by members of the Ukrainian army on the train platform before the arrival of the first return train at the Kherson railway station since Russian forces withdrew on November 19, 2022 in Kherson. , Ukraine.
(Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
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“We will continue to supply the new units with modern equipment and weapons, as well as experienced personnel,” he added.
But Western defense officials have long pointed to Russia’s inability to supply its troops and reports of inadequate training of soldiers have surfaced for months.
Since then, Putin’s forces have faltered on the front lines, though brutal fighting continues in areas such as Bakhmut, east of Donetsk.
The UK Ministry of Defense assessed on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces have recaptured 54 percent of the territory Russia seized since February 24, 2022, noting that Russian forces now occupy just 18 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea. .
Instead, Russia has relied on air campaigns to attack civilian infrastructure and power grids.
FILE – A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar at Russian positions in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022.
(AP Photo/Libkos, file)
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Putin’s comments on Tuesday are one of the first times he has publicly acknowledged that his war in Ukraine will not be planned and called on his security agencies to work harder.
“The rapidly changing global situation and the emergence of new threats and challenges place high demands on the entire system of Russian security agencies,” he said. “This means that you need to significantly improve your work in key areas and use your operational, technical and personnel potential to the fullest.”
