Russian President Vladimir Putin (Xinhua file photo)
MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The recent attempted attacks by drones on Russian military bases in Syria was a provocation aimed at destroying previous agreements and damaging relations between Russia, Turkey and Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
"We know who they are, who paid who for this provocation and what the actual sum was...This kind of incidents...are provocations aimed at destroying previous agreements," Putin said at a meeting with heads of Russian printed media and news agencies.
On Saturday, terrorists attempted to attack Russia's Hmeymim and Tartus military bases in Syria with 13 drones, which were either captured or destroyed by Russian servicemen.
The drone attack was also conducted in the purpose of undermining Russia's relations with Turkey and Iran, which are all guarantor states of the Syrian ceasefire regime, Putin said.
He stressed that the Turks, who control the Syrian province of Idlib where the drones had been sent, were not involved in the attack.
According to the president, the drones were disguised as improvised devices while in fact involving high-tech elements.
"As for these attacks, they were undoubtedly well prepared. We know when and where these aerial vehicles were handed over (to the terrorists) and how many of them there were. These aerial vehicles were made to look like homemade. But it is absolutely obvious that some high-tech equipment was used," Putin said.
Moscow has taken additional measures to ensure the security of its military facilities in Syria, Putin added.
Earlier in the day, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces released the results of the assessment of the captured drones in the attack, saying that the development and use of the drones required assembly schemes and necessary components previously tested for numerous times and involved "specialists who have received special training in countries producing and using systems with unmanned aerial vehicles."
