As a result of the pulling together of an additional military contingent, the number of Russian troops near the borders of Ukraine will reach 110 thousand soldiers, said the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran.
"The data collected allows us to recognize the ongoing preparations for the approach of additional units from mainland Russia to the Ukrainian borders. With the additional contingent, the total number of Russian troops concentrated along the Ukrainian borders in this direction will reach 56 battalion tactical groups with 110,000 troops," Taran said. at a meeting of the European Parliament's subcommittee on security and defense on Wednesday.
According to him, in a broader sense, Russia continues to build up its strike capabilities on the European continent.
In addition, Taran pointed out, it is necessary to take into account the political and related security developments in Belarus, which could potentially lead to a permanent military presence of Russia in this country.
The Defense Minister expressed his assumptions about possible scenarios for Russia's actions in the near future.
"First of all, the project of the Russian authorities is to increase pressure on our country in order to reduce the progress of reforms, positive internal political events and blatantly destroy our Euro-Atlantic aspirations," he said.
Taran also spoke about concerns about the offensive operation of the Russian Federation from Crimea in order to ensure the supply of water to Crimea.
"Secondly, we are concerned about the likely preparation of regular Russian troops to conduct an offensive military operation from the direction of the Crimea in order to ensure the supply of water to the peninsula, which is the exclusive responsibility of the country that occupied the Crimean peninsula," he added.
The minister said that Ukraine is also clearly aware of the high likelihood of a provocation, similar to the one in Georgia, of the Ukrainian Joint Forces in the East in order to accuse Ukraine of violating the existing ceasefire regime and use this as an excuse to increase troops in the occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Also, according to Taran, Russia is symmetrically deploying troops in response to the "Defender Europe" exercises in order to increase combat readiness for the Russian strategic exercises "West 2021".
“Taking into account all these assumptions, we cannot exclude the possibility that the Russian occupation forces in Crimea and near our borders may undertake significant military provocations throughout this year,” the head of the Defense Ministry emphasized.
He informed that in 2021, Ukraine lost 28 soldiers who were killed during the hostilities, and 68 soldiers were injured.
"In this context, on behalf of the ministry, I ask all our partners, all European countries to redouble your vigilance and multi-purpose deterrence in order to firmly keep Russia within the boundaries of international law," Taran said.
The number of Russian troops near the border of Ukraine will reach 110 thousand people – Taran
