MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered placing the Russian army's deterrence forces on a special alert.

"Top officials of leading NATO countries make aggressive statements about our country, so I order the defense minister and the chief of the General Staff to put the Russian army's deterrence forces on a special alert," Putin said during a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Valery Gerasimov.