On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, ordered officials to increase Ukraine border control in response to drone attacks that targeted regions in Russia.

 While Ukraine authorities did not claim responsibility for the attacks, they insist on the right to such forays to defend themselves from Russia's invasion.

Drone attacks over Russia

The drones in Russian territory are small Ukrainian-made models with a reported range of close to 500 miles. And so far, they have no capacity to carry a large load of explosives. Although Ukraine forces have high-capacity drones they have not been using them in Russia.

 Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region. And there have been three other drone attacks that targeted Russia's Belgorod region. In one of the attacks, a drone flew through an apartment window in error. And another drone crashed just 60 miles from Moscow.

 The Moscow-area drone was apparently targeting a Gazprom gas distribution facility. Putin signed a bill suspending the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. Putin has said that Russia will respect the caps on nuclear weapons and continue to notify the U.S. about test launches of ballistic missiles.

"There are no casualties or destruction on the ground," Moscow Regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said. "There are no risks to the safety of local residents."

Russia has issued statements denying the drone attacks are a disruption. Russia's Emergency Ministry announced that air raid alarms that interrupted TV and radio programming in several Russian regions were a hoax caused by hacking.

 Flights in and out of St. Petersburg Airport were stopped for an hour on Tuesday, initially prompting reports that an unidentified drone was the reason, but the Russian military later said it was due to air defense drills. 

War Updates

 A survey conducted by the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights found that one-third of the Ukrainians who fled to EU nations because of the war want to return home, the same proportion as those who prefer to stay in their host country, and about one-quarter were undecided.

 The Center for Strategic International Studies estimates that more than 60,000 Russian troops have died in the first year of the Ukraine war, more than all Russian wars since World War II combined. 

Ukraine has performed "remarkably well" against a much larger and initially better-equipped Russian military, in part because of the innovation of its forces.

 A senior Pentagon official said the front lines in Ukraine are "a grinding slog," and neither side has gained much ground in the winter. Ukrainian leaders previously requested modern tanks to confront Russian troops, and the US and Germany agreed to provide 300 tanks, but only around 100 have made it to the battlefield so far.