LAST UPDATE: 15:43
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said today that Russian troops were approaching the border with Ukraine, while more Russian warplanes were flying in the area, rejecting Russian claims of troop withdrawal, as reported by Reuters. Austin said Russia was also collecting bottles of blood.
“I was a soldier a while ago, too. I know firsthand that you do not do such things for no reason,” said Austin, a retired general. “And you certainly do not if you are preparing to return home.”
“We see them flying more warplanes and support aircraft. We see them stepping up their preparedness in the Black Sea. We even see them being equipped with blood bottles.”
Austin, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, also said reports of bombings in eastern Ukraine were worrying.
In today’s statement, the US Secretary of Defense also said that although it is too early to attribute responsibility for the major cyber attack in Ukraine this week, he added that the methods of this attack come from the Russian strategy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov earlier in the day denied reports of a Russian-led invasion of Ukraine, but said Moscow was closely monitoring the situation in the rebel-held Donbass region of Ukraine.
Peshkov said in a statement that while Russia has begun withdrawing some of its troops that have completed exercises in areas adjacent to Ukraine, the process will take some time.
Source: Capital

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