149,000 Russian soldiers are already stationed near the Ukrainian border. This was announced on Friday by Ukrainian Defense Minister Olexiy Reznikov, according to which there is no actual withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s borders.
TASR took over this information from AFP and Ukrinform. “First of all, we do not confirm Russia’s statement and the withdrawal of troops. This is not happening, there is (only) a transfer of forces and resources. The number of ground troops is 129,000.
With a total of 149,000 naval and air forces, ” Reznikov said that the number of Russian troops near Ukraine is expected to continue to grow. According to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine is ready for all possible scenarios, but at the moment does not expect that the security situation will deteriorate further.
“By no means do we alleviate the threat, but we still rate the probability of escalation as low in terms of the (possible Russian) invasion of Ukraine,” Reznikov said. According to him, Ukraine is currently focusing mainly on increasing the readiness of its troops.
In this context, military exercises continue in various regions of the country, and the Ukrainian Security Service SBU and units of the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior are also undergoing constant training, writes Ukrinform.
The United States, other NATO countries and Ukraine have been warning for weeks about the high concentration of Russian troops at Ukraine’s borders and the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to attack Ukraine. However, it demands security guarantees from the West, including a promise that Kiev will not become a member of NATO in the future.
Despite the fact that Russia has repeatedly reported in recent days about the withdrawal of its troops from the vicinity of the Russian-Ukrainian border, according to NATO, there is no indication that such a move is really taking place.
