President Vladimir Putin ordered increased border security on Sunday to enable rapid Russian military and civilian movement into Ukrainian territories currently under Russian authority.

Putin congratulated the border service, a branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), on their Border Guard Day holiday, saying their job was to reliably cover the lines near the fighting zone.

In recent weeks, the severity of attacks inside Russia has increased, primarily through drone strikes on border regions but also further into the nation, including on an oil pipeline northwest of Moscow on Saturday.

Putin said, “It is necessary to ensure the fast movement of both military and civilian vehicles and cargo, including food, humanitarian aid building materials sent to the new subjects of the (Russian) Federation”.

Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk are the four Ukrainian provinces that Putin declared annexed last September following sham referendums, according to Kyiv. The four territories are only partially under Russian authority.

Officials claimed on Saturday that three people were hurt in Ukrainian shelling in Belgorod, an area that had been the target of pro-Ukrainian fighters this week, raising concerns about Russia’s defence and military capabilities.

The Russian areas of Kursk and Belgorod, which border Ukraine, have been the most frequent targets of attacks on electrical, train, and military infrastructure, with local officials blaming Ukraine.

Kyiv almost never officially claims responsibility for operations within Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but it has stated that it is destroying infrastructure in preparation for a ground assault.

Ukraine signaled on Saturday that it was ready to start a long-promised counteroffensive to reclaim land lost to Russia during the 15-month conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives and left Ukrainian cities in ruins.

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