Kyiv: Russia has amassed 90,000 troops near Ukrainian borders
Russia has amassed near the Ukrainian border and in the Donbas about 90,000 troops, reported the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
"According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, at the beginning of November 2021, a group of troops with a total number of about 90 thousand people is deployed near our border and in the temporarily occupied territories," the statement of the Defense Ministry reads.
This includes the troops of the 8th, 20th armies of the Southern and Western military districts, as well as the forces and equipment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
“In addition, separate formations and units of the 4th, 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces are stationed near the Ukrainian border. In the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, two army corps of the Russian forces are deployed,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry noted that during the second half of 2021, Russia conducted a series of large-scale command and staff exercises near the border of Ukraine.
"Upon completion of this operational and combat training, units and subdivisions of the 41st Army remained in the European part of Russia, in particular, in the vicinity of the village of Yelnya, in the Smolensk region, at a distance of about two hundred and sixty kilometers from the state border with Ukraine," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry noted that from time-to-time Russia resorts to such military buildups in order to maintain tension in the region and put pressure on neighboring states.
Earlier, the American newspaper the Washington Post reported that Russia is again amassing troops near the border with Ukraine, and this is not an exercise.