TOPSHOT - Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting at the Belbek airport near the Black sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on August 19, 2016. Putin's visit to Crimea comes after he lashed out last week at Kiev over an incident on the frontier between Crimea and Ukraine, accusing it of TOPSHOT - Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during their meeting at the Belbek airport near the Black sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on August 19, 2016. Putin's visit to Crimea comes after he lashed out last week at Kiev over an incident on the frontier between Crimea and Ukraine, accusing it of "practising terror" and sending a group of saboteurs into Crimea ahead of the elections. - AFP 

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin was yesterday visiting annexed Crimea to boost security measures there, just days after accusing Kiev of attempting an armed incursion into the peninsula. Putin chaired a meeting of his powerful security council in Crimea as he made his fifth visit to the strategic Black Sea peninsula since annexing it from Ukraine in March 2014. "We have gathered because of the well-known incident, after stopping an attempt by Ukrainian army sabotage groups to stage an incursion into Crimean territory," he said during the meeting whose aim was to "discuss and implement additional security measures."

Last week, Putin lashed out at Kiev over an incident on the frontier between Crimea and Ukraine, accusing it of "practicing terror" and sending a group of saboteurs into Crimea ahead of the elections. Two Russian officers were killed in the incident, in which Ukraine denied any involvement. Putin however continued his accusations yesterday, saying "our partners in Kiev have decided to exacerbate the situation" because they did not want to uphold their end of the European-brokered truce agreement signed in Belarussian capital Minsk last year.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday said he considered the likelihood of an escalation "high" and could not rule out a "full-scale Russian invasion along all fronts". Kiev said Thursday heavy rebel shelling killed three soldiers in its east, where the government has been battling pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Western leaders have expressed alarm over the possibility of an escalation.

Meanwhile, Russian naval and land forces have practiced swiftly moving military hardware and troops to annexed Crimea as part of a logistics exercise which foreshadows much larger war games there next month, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Defence Ministry said in a statement issued late on Thursday that Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, had observed part of the training exercise which took place in the Russian port of Novorossiisk.

It said specialized logistic troops had cooperated with Russian Railways and the country's merchant fleet to rehearse moving troops, armor and technical equipment to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Vessels from Russia's Black Sea Fleet had also taken part, including a submarine, a large landing ship, mine-sweepers and an unspecified number of guided missile cruisers. Around 2,500 troops and up to 350 armoured vehicles had also been involved.

Shoigu had observed how quickly logistics troops were able to organize the loading of armored vehicles and landing troops onto a large landing ship and how quickly they could re-arm a mine-sweeper and a submarine, the ministry said. "Training on how to destroy groups of saboteurs and how to repel underwater attacks was carried out," said the ministry. "Sergei Shoigu rated highly the logistic troops' actions and the fact that they were able to rapidly organize the movement of significant amounts of hardware to Crimea."

It said the exercises, which also took place in a number of other locations, began on Aug 16 and would end on Aug 20. Russia's main military exercise for this year - Caucasus 2016 - is due to take place next month and will also involve Crimea and Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The Russian army's Red Star newspaper in January quoted Colonel-General Alexander Galkin as saying the exercise would check combat readiness and test how air, sea and land forces collaborated together.