It is also not known how many soldiers are involved and where they are exactly. New satellite photos published Monday just showed Russian military personnel being moved to forward positions closer to the Ukrainian border. New military equipment was also brought in, such as combat helicopters and airplanes.
The defense ministry in Moscow said the military personnel being withdrawn belong to the Southern and Western Military District. According to the ministry, they are returning to their bases after exercises near the border with Ukraine. A video released by the department shows tanks and armored vehicles being loaded for transport by rail.
“Units of the Southern and Western Military Districts, having completed their mission, will board trains and trucks and head for their garrisons later in the day,” a Defense Department spokesman said. “Some units will join military convoys.” According to US intelligence and Ukraine, Russia has gathered some 130,000 soldiers at the border.
Diplomacy
The announcement of the withdrawal comes a day after Foreign Minister Lavrov asked President Putin to give diplomacy more room to solve the crisis. “Our options are far from exhausted,” Lavrov told Putin. This indicated that a Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the US says could begin any moment, is far from over.
The Russian announcement also comes just before the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Moscow on Tuesday. During a meeting in the Kremlin last week, his French colleague Emmanuel Macron urged Putin to de-escalate in order to give more room for negotiations.
In Kiev, there is a hesitant response to the message about the withdrawal. Foreign Minister Dimitri Kuleba said: “We are constantly hearing different statements from Russia. We have one rule: we don’t believe it until we see it happen. If we see a withdrawal, we believe that a de-escalation has started.”
New photos
According to US commercial satellite company Maxar Technologies, which continuously monitors the contraction of Russian troops, new photos show increased military activity near the border with Ukraine. This would be the case in western Russia, in Crimea and in neighboring Belarus where the Russians are conducting large-scale military exercises.
The new images were taken on Sunday and Monday. According to Maxar, the photos make it clear that some of the Russian soldiers are leaving the large camps where they have been stationed for the past few months and are moving towards combat positions closer to the border. For example, a photo of the huge military camp near Yelnya, where tanks and artillery were stationed, shows that units partly left it on Sunday.
“The significant new activities include the arrival of large numbers of military personnel at forward locations,” said Maxar. Attack helicopters, ground attack aircraft and bombers have also been landed and convoys of combat troops that have left their location have been sighted.
The United States Department of Defense confirmed on Monday that Russia further increased its military force over the weekend. “He continues to increase his military readiness,” a Pentagon spokesman said on Putin. “He continues to give himself more options, should he go down the military path.”