Russia tightens security ahead of Obama visit

Russia will put its fighter jets on high alert and the airspace over Moscow will be a no-fly zone as part of security measures put in place for the maiden visit of the US president Barack Obama.

Russian special services and police are taking heightened security measures and the Army and Air Force will be engaged in efforts to ensure the US leader's safety on July 6-8.

"Several dozen jet fighters will be on high alert on airfields near Moscow. Airspace over the capital and nearby areas will be declared a no-fly zone," a security official said.

"Measures normally taken during events like visits by heads of state have long been worked out by secret services, but this time additional steps, which will not be disclosed, are being taken," the official was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Several thousand uniformed and plain-cloths men would be engaged and Moscow police will step up ID card checks and patrolling in public places. Additional police forces, including riot-control units, will also be brought from other regions.

According to the Kremlin foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko, Obama is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Monday morning and would spend five hours with president Medvedev.