MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the interior ministry to conduct preventive strikes against terrorists.
"[The Interior Ministry's] measures in this area must have a preventive nature," the president said at a meeting Wednesday with high-ranking interior ministry officials in the Kremlin.
"We realize how serious the tasks facing security-related agencies in Russia are, especially the law enforcement bodies and interior ministry troops," Putin said.
He also said the latest events in the world confirm that terrorism remains a major global threat.
"The recent blasts in London; the terrorist acts in Iraq, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt; and the assaults on government officials in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Russia show that terrorism remains a major global threat," Putin said.
"In this respect, Russia will continue playing its important role in the joint fight against terrorism," he added.
In June 2005, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russia retains the right to conduct preventive strikes on the territories of the post-Soviet republics bordering the country in the case of a direct terrorist threat.
"A preventive strike is possible as a one-time preventive measure to eliminate a terrorist threat against Russia, and only when we are absolutely sure that such a threat is clear and present," Ivanov said.
The idea of a preventive strike was voiced for the first time when Russia accused Georgia of harboring terrorist groups in the Pankisi Gorge region that carry out attacks on Russian territory.
"I would like to remind you that we consider a preventive strike as a one-time measure and not as a military campaign or an invasion of a certain country," Ivanov clarified at the time.
