Secret services: Russia continues deployment at high speed
Created: 01/27/2022, 02:28 am
A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea.
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
According to Western secret services, 112,000 to 120,000 Russian soldiers could now be stationed at the border with Ukraine.
And the troop strength could increase significantly again.
Brussels - According to Western secret services, Russia has recently continued its troop deployment on the border with Ukraine at a rapid pace.
It can be assumed that there are now 112,000 to 120,000 soldiers in the area, said a senior intelligence representative from the German Press Agency.
This does not include the armed forces of the Russian-controlled separatists in Donbass.
They are estimated at around 35,000.
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The secret service official did not want to comment specifically on the question of how many other Russian soldiers are still on the march.
However, he emphasized that the strength of the Russian troops in the border area with Ukraine could increase significantly again in the coming weeks.
All signs indicate that the march will continue, he said.
Tactical Battalion Groups
Specifically, it is considered likely that the number of tactical battalion groups (BTG), currently estimated at around 60, will continue to grow.
This is how highly flexible and fast combat troops with 600 to 1000 soldiers are called.
The NATO states and numerous other countries have been criticizing the troop deployment on the border with Ukraine for weeks.
Secret service agents fear a Russian invasion of the neighboring country.
However, it is also considered conceivable that the deployment should primarily be a means of exerting pressure on the NATO states to accept Russian proposals for new security agreements.
Moscow wants NATO to rule out the admission of countries like Ukraine and initiate the withdrawal of armed forces from eastern alliance states.
Allies find this unacceptable.
dpa
