Russian troops decided to linger at the border with Ukraine
Moscow – Kyiv, May 29 (Navigator, Mikhail Stamm) – The withdrawal of the 15-strong group, which Vladimir Putin announced on the eve of the presidential elections in Ukraine, has not been fully implemented. Several thousand Russian military personnel and a significant amount of military equipment remain at the training grounds in the regions adjacent to Ukraine. The troop withdrawal plan has been revised due to the tightening of the anti-terrorist operation in south-eastern Ukraine, an RBC source in the General Staff reports.
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According to the source, it was decided to leave reconnaissance units and military personnel stationed in the regions bordering Ukraine at the training grounds.
On May 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the return of troops participating in exercises in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions to their places of permanent deployment. The head of state explained his decision by creating “favorable conditions around the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine.”
On Wednesday, a senior NATO source commented on the withdrawal of Russian troops to Reuters. “Some parts have been withdrawn from the border. The activity that we observe allows us to conclude that the slow withdrawal of troops continues, but the majority of military personnel previously stationed near the border remain there and are able to deploy in a short time,” the news agency quotes an interlocutor in the alliance.
No more than a thousand military personnel have been withdrawn, while tens of thousands remain, NATO stated. According to the alliance's initial assessment, about 40 thousand Russian troops were stationed on the border with Ukraine.
According to the calculations of the Chairman of the State Border Service of Ukraine Mykola Lytvyn, there are about 18-20 thousand Russian military personnel in the nearest border area. “Plus a huge group in Crimea, altogether 45-60 thousand,” he said on Wednesday.
Officially, the Russian Ministry of Defense stubbornly refuses to comment on the movement of troops. RBC's source in the department said that after the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, many units moved to their places of permanent deployment, in particular the Pskov, Tula and Ivanovo paratroopers.
As RBC’s interlocutor at the Ministry of Defense noted, now we are definitely not talking about 18-20 thousand military personnel (the numbers cited by Ukrainian border guards), but “several times less.” According to an RBC source at the General Staff, the number of military personnel continuing exercises at training grounds up to 50 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border is approximately 4-5 thousand people.
After the tragic events in Donetsk, there were no orders to strengthen the group, prepare for a march, or any other orders, RBC’s interlocutor in the army leadership emphasized.
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