THE Russian President Vladimir Putin stated today at Security Council of Russia that additional “anti-terrorism measures” need to be discussed to protect infrastructure controlled by law enforcement.

Putin said yesterday that Russia had suffered a “terrorist attack” in the southern Bryansk region bordering Ukraine and vowed to crush the group of saboteurs who opened fire on civilians.

Ukraine accused Russia of staging a false “provocation”.

Putin amends law to ensure proper execution of state defense orders

Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed a decree authorizing the state to suspend directors and shareholders of any company that fails to fulfill state defense contracts under the terms of martial law.

The decree gives the right to the Ministry of Industry to appoint a new external administrator to take over the management of the companies in question.

Putin had in October imposed martial law in four regions of Ukraine that Moscow has partially seized as its territory, a move condemned as illegal by most countries.

Putin, at war with Ukraine for a year, has not extended martial law across Russia, but he has successfully brought the economy into the service of war, with defense industry factories operating on a 24-hour, three-shift basis to meet the needs of the Russian army.

The new decree will apply to companies that “breach their obligations under a government contract, including failing to take steps to guarantee production deliveries.”

Asked earlier during the daily briefing whether martial law would be imposed in certain regions of Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that was the president’s prerogative, but did not say whether Putin planned to make such a move.