The Pentagon is closely monitoring the ongoing withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Monday, April 26.
“We see that some Russian troops are leaving the border with Ukraine. We will closely monitor this, “- quoted by Kirby TASS.
The spokesman stressed that it is “too early to assess this process”.
On the same day, the Ministry of Defense announced the return of the military forces of the Southern Military District (YuVO) and the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) to the deployment points after the exercises. More than 50 operational-tactical aircraft and helicopters of the army aviation of the Air Force and Air Defense Association of the Southern Military District and the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet returned to the airfields. In the places of permanent deployment, the participants of the exercises will be solemnly greeted by relatives, friends and colleagues, and the military will also be presented with gifts and certificates.
On April 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the completion of verification activities in the Southern and Western military districts. He instructed the General Staff and the commanders to proceed with the return of troops to the points of permanent deployment and evaluate the results of the check.
Since the end of March, Ukraine and a number of Western countries have expressed concern about the movement of Russian military personnel across the territory of the Russian Federation. On April 1, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia has the right to deploy troops on its territory at its discretion, this does not pose a threat to other states and should not bother anyone.