Russian President Putin gives 'priority tasks' to the military

President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to eliminate Ukraine's ability to attack Russian border areas and that this was the Defense Ministry's task.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: RT

RT news agency reported that President Putin said so on February 1, a day after Ukraine shelled an oil pipeline in the Bryans region and amid rumors that the US was preparing to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles.

"Of course, the priority task is to eliminate the possibility of attacks, and that is the task of the military," President Putin said at an online conference on infrastructure work in the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Crimea.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said that 3,700 residents of border villages in the Belgorod region had been displaced by Ukrainian shelling and the government had earmarked funds to provide them with housing and other necessities.

Authorities in Belgorod and Bryansk said that Ukraine shelled the two regions on January 30. In Bryansk, a shell landed in a field near a substation of the Druzhba oil pipeline. The pipeline was not affected, but workers were on high alert. Also on January 30, three villages in Belgorod and one in the Kursk region were attacked by Ukrainian artillery and rockets.

Reuters reported on January 30 that Washington is preparing to supply Ukraine with missiles with a range of up to 150km, which can hit targets deep inside Russia. Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine's intelligence agency, Kirill Budanov, warned that "there will be problems inside Russia" until Kiev restores its declared borders.

Previously, Mr. Alexey Danilov, head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, also warned about the prospect of explosions across Russia.