Russia has left 90,000 military troops near its border with Ukraine after training exercises.
Ukrainian defence minister affirmed in a statement issued today that Moscow has left military units along the frontier after recent training exercises.
Russian armed forces recently held a series of large-scale drills in the region, including with airborne troops, the ministry clarified.
“It should be noted that the Russian Federation periodically resorted to the practice of transferring and accumulating military units in order to maintain tensions in the region and political pressure on neighbouring states,” the ministry said.
However, the US, an ally of Kyiv, has criticised the move as “overtly aggressive”.
“We’ve seen this before … What does this mean? We don’t know yet, too early to tell,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said on Wednesday.
Russia blames Ukraine for the lack of progress in implementing a peace deal over eastern Ukraine. Ukraine denies the implementation.
A similar situation with a B-B1 jet happened on Sunday over the Sea of Japan.
This happened days after the US naval destroyer incident, which is also in the far east.
The US also uses B-1B bombers in several NATO allies’ exercises across Europe.
The Air Force Magazine reported this month that the exercises encompass the Arctic, the Baltics and the Black Sea.