Muzhenko: Russia amassing military equipment along Ukrainian border
The amount of military equipment which Russia has on the Ukrainian border has recently increased dramatically, said Ukrainian Chief of General Staff Viktor Muzhenko.
“The nature of the deployment (of Russian military groups and equipment) shows that, in the shortest possible time, the corresponding attack groups could be formed, and the direction of their activity would be Ukraine,” Muzhenko said in a broadcast of ICTV. “This is why we are considering more than one direction – the Luhansk and Donetsk rfegion, and Ukraine’s north-eastern, eastern and southern borders”.
The Chief of General Staff added that during the Vostok-2018 military exercise, Russia transferred 300 T-62 tanks from eastern regions to a base close to the Ukrainian border. Russia also established a division comprising of two tank and two motorized rifle regiments. “Such divisions are called “Breakout” divisions. It’s clear that the divisions are not created to carry out defensive action, but for offensive action,” Muzhenko emphasized.
The general clarified that this division is part of the 8th Combined Arms Army stationed in Novocherkassk. “It is most interesting that the two army corps which are in the temporarily occupied territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces are managed from the headquarters of this 8th Combined Arms Army. We are seeing systematic formation,” Muzhenko added, also noting that the number of Russian ships in the Sea of Azov has “virtually doubled”.
According to current intelligence, the Russian troops on the Ukrainian border have recently been placed on alert, the Chief of General Staff noted.