The United States is concerned about the movement of Russian troops in the border area with Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing.
“We continue to monitor the disturbing movements of the Russian military in western Russia and around Ukraine. We continue to urge Russia to clarify its intentions and what they are actually doing there,” Kirby said in response to a question about whether the Pentagon’s assessment was consistent with the message. Kiev, that on the border with Ukraine there are 90 thousand Russian military personnel.
At the same time, the spokesman said: “I am not going to go into the intelligence estimates from this rostrum, especially the numbers.” He traditionally called on Russia to abide by the Minsk agreements and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Earlier, the American media circulated reports that Russia was allegedly concentrating troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine. For example, the Politico newspaper published satellite photographs that allegedly testify to the build-up of tanks, self-propelled guns and military personnel by Russia. They, the newspaper writes, were made in the area of the Russian city of Yelnya, without indicating that it is located in the Smolensk region, bordering Belarus, and not Ukraine. The Washington Post, citing its sources, reported that officials in the United States and Europe in recent weeks have noted “a build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine” after the Russian-Belarusian military exercises “West 2021”, which “causes concern.”
Western media reports that Russia is pulling troops to the border with Ukraine do not correspond to reality, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“We drew attention to the information salvo that was fired at us, but in fact to a greater extent, which took place in the articles of the American media regarding the fact that Russia is pulling troops to the border with Ukraine,” Zakharova said. at a briefing on Wednesday.
She called it “a whole fresh fake campaign in the American media.”
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