Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday thanked the residents of the border areas areas that came to the polls for their courage and fortitude. He urged the authorities to pay special attention to the needs of these citizens.
He said this during a meeting with selected heads of Russian constituent units via video conference on Wednesday, reports "Interfax".
"I especially thank the voters who live in the border areas. Despite all the difficulties, pressures, attempts to destabilize the situation, terrorist attacks in these territories, people came to the elections and showed an example of unity and consolidation and strength of spirit. They evoke sincere respect once again. Thank you for your position," Putin said.
He noted that "people living in the border areas have gone through difficult experiences".
"And here the authorities, federal, regional and local, are obliged to pay special attention to their needs and requests," Putin said.
All emerging problems, the president emphasized, must "be resolved without delay and unnecessary formality".
"And, of course, the sacred duty, as I have already said, of the armed forces is to do everything to protect the people,", added the head of state.
We remind you that earlier this week, Putin ordered the number of soldiers to be increased by another 180,000, bringing their total strength to 1.5 million.
The previous increase was last December, when the total number of Russian military personnel was about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million soldiers.
Battles continue with the Ukrainian military in the border areas.
The Russian counter-offensive in the Kursk region has stopped, part of its territory remains under Ukrainian control, Aleksei Dmitrashkovsky, a representative of the command of the Ukrainian armed forces established in this territory, told AFP.
Russian troops "tried to attack on the flanks, but were stopped, the situation stabilized and today everything is under our control, they failed", the agency quoted him as saying.
Civilians are "not allowed to leave" because "the situation needs to be controlled," but they are allowed to move within the territory controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces, a commandant representative said. They "can visit, eat there, gather somewhere, dig potatoes, work in the garden," AFP quoted him as saying.
Food is supplied to the occupied territory from the neighboring Ukrainian Sumy region. "The Sumy regional administration allocates funds for bread every week. The armed forces provide water, the administration provides food rations. Nothing works here, no shops, no pharmacies, nothing," Dmitrashkovski said.