Ukrainian Army Commander: Russian military threat highest since 2014
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Victor Muzhenko, believes that Russia is increasing its military presence in the border areas, reports Reuters.
Russia is increasing its military presence near the border with Ukraine since August, and now the military threat is the highest since 2014 when Moscow annexed the Crimea.
Muzhenko refers to a series of satellite images, which according to him shows the Russian T-62M tanks stationed 18 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Their number more than doubled from 93 to 250 within two weeks from mid-September to 1 October.
Muzhenko sees this as the evidence of a concerted build-up of the Russian military forces prior to November 25, when Russia opened fire and captured three Ukrainian vessels at the Kerch Strait.
Kyiv fears that these events can be a precursor to a full-scale invasion.
According to Muzhenko, the concentration of Russian troops is at “the highest level” since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimea and deployed its forces in eastern Ukraine.
“We are facing an aggressor who has no legal, moral or any other limits,” he said. “It is very difficult to predict when it will occur to him to begin active hostilities against Ukraine.”
Muzhenko said that in response, Ukraine deployed additional land and air forces to the region, and intensified active military exercises, but did not go into specific details.