LAST UPDATE: 14.07
Some troops in Russian areas near the border with Ukraine are returning to their bases after completing their exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday, in a move that could escalate tensions between Moscow and the West.
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying that while large-scale exercises were continuing across the country, some units in the southern and western military districts had completed their exercises and started returning to their bases.
“The units of the southern and western military areas, after completing their training, have already begun (…) to return to their barracks,” said Igor Konachenkov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.
This announcement is the first sign of Moscow’s retreat into the crisis with the West that began in late 2021.
According to a separate statement from Russia’s southern military sector, its forces have begun withdrawing from Crimea and returning to their bases after completing high schools on the Russian-occupied peninsula from Ukraine.
According to Interfax, which cites the administration of the sector, some troops are moving to bases in the southern regions of Russia, Dagestan and North Ossetia.
Video images from the Russian Ministry of Defense show some tanks and other armored vehicles being loaded on platform wagons.
Brest pic.twitter.com/qwbsOUBsHy
– IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) February 14, 2022
Military equipment in Obtyabrskiy, Belgorod Oblast. pic.twitter.com/CZZcb2j5fP
– Michael Sheldon (@ Michael1Sheldon) February 13, 2022
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it will use trucks to transport some equipment, while some troops will return on foot to their bases.
The Russian markets reacted positively to the news of the withdrawal and the ruble, which was under pressure due to fears of new Western sanctions in case of war, gained 1.5% shortly after the announcement of the Ministry of Defense.
German Chancellor Olaf Solz is meeting as early as 2 p.m. Greek time with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, on a high-risk mission to prevent a war.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Tras said Britain should see to it a full-scale withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine to believe that Moscow has no plans to invade.
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine, sparking fears of an impending invasion, especially since Moscow’s joint exercises with Minsk on February 10-20 show that Ukraine is almost surrounded by Russia. military.
Russia is currently conducting joint military exercises with Belarus, which are expected to be completed on February 20.
Kremlin: The usual process is evolving
The Kremlin has confirmed the start of the withdrawal of Russian troops stationed near the Ukrainian border, calling it a “normal process” and denouncing Western “hysteria” over an alleged impending invasion.
“We have always said that after the completion of the exercises, (…) the troops would return to their bases. This is what is happening, this is the usual process,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peshkov told reporters.
According to him, Moscow will organize other “exercises throughout Russia” in the future because “it is our right to organize high schools in our territory, wherever we deem it appropriate.”
The Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Northern Fleet as saying that more than 20 ships of this force had started training in the Barents Sea.
Reuters notes that the exercises in the Arctic waters between Russia and Norway are part of the wider high schools that have created fears in the West and especially in the US that Moscow may invade Ukraine.
In his remarks today, Peshkov denounced a “campaign with absolutely no precedent aimed at provoking tensions.”
“It’s the kind of hysteria that is not based on anything,” he said.
Read also:
* British Foreign Secretary: Only a large-scale withdrawal of Russian forces will convince us that an invasion is not imminent
* The US fears that Russia will attack Ukraine even within a week
* Peshkov: Putin is ready for talks on security guarantees
Source: Capital
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