(Moscow) “Unprecedented” security measures, including mobile communications cuts, were taken Friday for Vladimir Putin’s participation in an economic forum in St. Petersburg, amid growing Ukrainian attacks in Russia.
“Security measures […] are unprecedented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agency Interfax as saying.
The Roskongress Foundation, which organizes this International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, notably indicated that internet communication via mobile operators would be blocked on Friday.
“Use Wi-Fi,” Peskov said, linking the moves to the threat of attacks from Ukraine.
In the buildings hosting the forum, large numbers of sniffer dogs patrolled and long lines of vehicles formed waiting to be searched, according to a local newspaper, Fontanka.
“It’s normal practice. The enemy acts brazenly and does not give up its attempts to cause damage,” Peskov said, adding that under these conditions “it is very important to remain alert and mobilized.”
These drastic measures are taken as Russia has been the target in recent weeks of numerous drone attacks, an armed incursion and explosions attributed by Moscow to forces in Kyiv.
Saint Petersburg is a long way from Ukraine, but an influential paramilitary blogger, Vladlen Tatarskii, was killed there in an explosion in April. Moscow has accused Kyiv’s secret service and Russian opponents of masterminding the attack.
A few weeks later, a high-voltage line was damaged by another explosion near Saint Petersburg, with Russian authorities citing sabotage.
