Is Russia withdrawing or continuing military build-up?

According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Russia has deployed 149,000 soldiers along the Ukrainian border.

“We notice that Russia has 129,000 military units, including ground forces. When the marine and air components are factored in, the figure rises to 149 thousand.”

Minister Reznikov claimed that while Kiev has strengthened its own defences, it does not intend to intervene against the country’s independent regions in the east of Crimea, which is connected to Russia.

Following this statement, reports came through of a bombardment in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. The parties laid blame on each other.

Ukrainian officials claimed that the armed forces in the pro-Russian Donbass region violated 20 ceasefires throughout the course of the night, while Donbass officials claimed that the Ukrainian army fired 27 bullets.

“What is happening in Donbass is highly disturbing and potentially quite dangerous,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.

Russia has also declared that their strategic forces will conduct a military exercise under the supervision of President Vladimir Putin. Ballistic missiles and cruise missiles are expected to be employed.

All of these developments coincided with Russia’s announcement that they had begun to remove their troops from the border.

It is unclear whether this is a real withdrawal or merely a rotation activity.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed reservations about the situation, citing the “gap between the announced improvements and the changes made.”

Despite repeated Russian withdrawal declarations, American and European intelligence agencies believe they have evidence, based on satellite images, that Russia’s military escalation along the Ukrainian border continues.

According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Russia’s “cold-war demands” jeopardize Europe’s security.

The G7 countries will convene in Munich on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Annalena Baerbock stated that “We are prepared to engage in a serious discussion about security for all. Even small moves toward peace are preferred to large steps toward war. However, major efforts from Russia are also required to ease the tensions.”