âȘ The Russian government claimed on Tuesday that several military units have completed âscheduled drillsâ along border with Ukraine and will now return to their permanent bases, bringing their armor and artillery with them...
Russian officials taunted the Biden Administration by claiming the redeployment âhumiliatedâ Western war hysterics, while Ukrainian and NATO military officials said they did not see any immediate sign of Russian forces actually pulling back from the border.
Russiaâs state-run Tass News Agency quoted Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkovâs claim that Russian troops were packing their gear and preparing to depart on Wednesday morning.
âAs combat training measures are coming to a close, the troops, as is always the case, will conduct combined marches to their permanent garrisons. Units of the Southern and Western Military Districts that have accomplished their tasks have already begun loading personnel and equipment on railway and auto transport means and will today begin heading to their military garrisons,â Konashenkov stated.
The Defense Ministry statement implied that withdrawal could take some time because some of the units would be marching home on foot, in column formations, as part of their training.
Russiaâs Southern Military District made a similar announcement on Tuesday that its troops were loading their âheavy tracked armor, such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery gunsâ onto trains and preparing to return from Crimea to bases in Dagestan and North Ossetia.
âThe units of the Southern Military District that have completed accomplishing their tasks as part of scheduled tactical exercises at combined arms practice ranges on the Crimean Peninsula have begun returning to their permanent bases. The personnel of battalion tactical groups have conducted marches to the areas of railway stations where operations to load combat equipment on special platforms have been organized,â the district command stated.
The Ministry of Defense said some troops and naval units are still âtrainingâ in the neighborhood of Ukraine, and would begin a fresh round of drills on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Western powers had been âhumiliated and destroyed without a single shot firedâ because their warnings of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine were ostensibly rendered foolish by the withdrawal announcement. â15 February, 2022, will go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed,â Zakharova declared.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday said the alleged conclusion of scheduled drills along the Ukrainian border countered âinformation terrorismâ emanating from the United States and Europe.
âAs for drills that Russia conducts on its own territory and in accordance with its own plans â let me specially emphasize that again â they begin, are implemented and concluded as planned. We have repeatedly stated that,â Lavrov said after meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau in Moscow.
âAnd this refers to the drills in the countryâs west, similar measures in the Far East or the joint Russian-Belarusian drills that are also developing and proceeding in strict compliance with the approved schedule,â Lavrov continued.
âThis is done irrespective of who thinks what, who and how is hysterical about this, who and how unleashes this genuine information terrorism and I am not afraid to use this word. The caravan keeps going,â he said.
Observers from Ukraine, its Eastern European neighbors, and NATO were skeptical, noting that the latest satellite photos showed more Russian troops and equipment moving toward the Ukrainian border, not pulling away from it. The overall Russian presence on the border has been estimated at roughly 130,000 troops.
Reuters on Tuesday quoted several dubious Western leaders:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said âthe intelligence that weâre seeing today is still not encouragingâ, and Ukraine said the reported pullback needed to be seen to be believed.
âIf we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation,â Interfax Ukraine quoted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as saying.
NATOâs chief welcomed signals from Russia in the past two days that it may be looking for a diplomatic solution but urged Moscow to demonstrate its will to act.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted a Russian attack on Ukraine could still be âimminent,â while France said it could not confirm any significant movement of Russian troops back to their home bases, and Polish defense consultant Konrad Muzyka said it would take days to determine if a serious drawdown of troops is truly underway.
âIt should also be noted that new trains with equipment from Central Russia keep on arriving near the border and that Russian forces continue to move towards staging areas. The announcement stands in a direct opposition to what Russia has been doing for the past few days,â Muzyka said.âȘ
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