The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has warned that “if it is considered necessary for its security, Russia will do what it deems appropriate within its territory”
“Tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other equipment are withdrawn from Crimea after the exercises,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported this morning without specifying specific figures. The day before, the military department had already reported the beginning of the withdrawal of units from the West and South military districts by road and rail bound for their permanent barracks. Also without facilitating the number of troops and the material folded.
The Russian newspaper Izvestia reports the withdrawal of two motorized divisions, the 3rd and the 150th, whose permanent bases are in the towns of Valuiki and Boguchar, located respectively in the Russian regions of Belgorod and Voronezh. Both border with Ukraine. So, according to information from the Russian newspaper, these troops are now much closer to Ukraine than during the maneuvers carried out in Crimea.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has warned that “if it is considered necessary for its security, Russia will do what it deems appropriate within its territory”, referring to the carrying out of new maneuvers. Exactly the same message was launched yesterday by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, declaring that his country “carries out and will continue to carry out military maneuvers within its territory. It is a permanent process as in the rest of the states of the world. It is our right.”
The note distributed today on the website of the Russian Defense Ministry indicates that the maneuvers carried out in Crimea, a peninsula that Russia annexed in March 2014, were “planned”, trying to imply that they have nothing to do with a plan prearranged to invade Ukraine.
In the early hours of Wednesday, February 16, according to US intelligence reports, Russian troops should have launched a military intervention against neighboring Ukraine. But, just on the eve, Moscow has given the first signs of relaxation with a partial withdrawal of the forces deployed on the border.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajárova, joked today on her Telegram account asking the American and British media, which she describes as “disinformation media” and among which she cites Bloomberg, The New York Times and The Sun, to “publish the calendar of Russian invasions for this year so I can plan my vacation.”
For his part, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, told the German newspaper Die Welt that “as far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that there will be no attack this Wednesday. There will also be no escalation in the next week, or the week after, or the next month.” In his opinion, “wars in Europe rarely start on a Wednesday.”
“When you make accusations, especially if they are very serious against Russia, you also have a responsibility to present evidence. Otherwise, it’s a slander, “estimates Chizhov. And he also calls on the West to pay attention to Moscow’s security concerns, stating that “when our partners finally listen to our legitimate concerns, a de-escalation process will not be long in coming. That would be in the interest of all Europeans, from Lisbon to Vladivostok, but also of all the other nations of the world.”
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