Translated material
Tymchuk: 40 thousand Russian military remains at the borders of Ukraine
As of 12:00 Monday (13:00 Moscow time), almost 40 thousand Russian military remains among the borders of Ukraine. Such data are given by the coordinator of the group "Information Resistance" Dmitry Tymchuk.
More than half of the soldiers - 22 thousand - are in the Crimea occupied by Russia. The number of troops near the border with the Donetsk region is 6.6 thousand people, at the borders with Lugansk and Kharkov - 4.6 thousand. 3 thousand Russian soldiers are in Transnistria and about the same amount - at the Ukrainian border in Belarus.
On Friday, the head of the Russian General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov said that the return of the troops of the Western and Southern military districts from the training grounds near the Ukrainian border to the places of permanent deployment would take about 20 days . When asked whether it is planned to return these troops by June 1, Gerasimov replied: "Such a date was not negotiated."
According to the general, the withdrawal of the troops began on May 19. In relocation, aircraft of military transport aircraft and railways are involved.
On Thursday, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of NATO forces in Europe, General Philip Bridlav, at a press conference in Brussels, said that there are still many Russian troops in the area of the Ukrainian border , and they "put pressure on the situation." “We see some movements. However, their scale and coverage are not yet clear,” Bridlav said. When asked about whether it is possible to talk about the announced withdrawal of troops, the general replied: "I do not know."
According to him, the movement of troops is limited to one of the three areas that adjust to the border with Ukraine, in which, according to NATO, there are 40-50 thousand units of personnel. “There is still a very large group on the border, which may be slightly reduced,” the general stated. “And these troops occupy threatening positions and are able to exert further pressure on the Kiev government.”
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that on Wednesday, four railway trains and 15 IL-76 aircraft with troops participating in the "planned military study events" were sent from the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions. Thus, the military department reported on the implementation of the president’s order to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border.
The movement of troops was confirmed by representatives of the US military. “At such an early stage, it is impossible to say whether this movement is something more than what we still saw”, or is it preparation for a real withdrawal of troops, said Pentagon press secretary Steve Warren.