Russia Withdraws 10,000 Troops After a Month of Siege of Ukraine
PERMATA POSTS Kind,MOSCOW - withdrew more than 10,000 troops after a month-long war games in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Moscow troops previously maneuvered to surround the former Soviet state from the north, east and south.
The Interfax news agency on Saturday (12/25/2021) reported that many Moscow soldiers had returned to their permanent bases.
During the month-long combat drills, some of the troops were deployed in Crimea, an area Russia annexed after it left Ukraine in 2014, as well as in the Rostov and Kuban regions of southern Russia.
The action of tens of thousands of Moscow troops besieging Ukraine from the north, east and south has sparked fears in both Kiev and the West that Moscow is planning an attack.
Russia denies such a plan, saying it needs assurances from the West, including assurances from NATO not to expand the alliance eastward toward Russia's borders, because its own security is threatened by Ukraine's growing relations with Western alliances.
Moscow has also said that it can deploy its troops on its territory at will.
Estimates of the number of Russian troops recently moved closer to Ukraine vary from 60,000 to 90,000, with one US intelligence document showing that number could be increased to 175,000.
“The combat coordination stage of divisions, combat crews, squads in motorized units has been completed. More than 10,000 military soldiers... will march towards their permanent deployment from the joint training area," the Russian military said, quoted by Interfax.