The Minister of Defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, instructed the commanders to begin the withdrawal of troops that have accumulated on the borders with Ukraine and in the occupied Crimea from April 23.
It is reported that Shoigu has instructed the General Staff and commanders to begin the return of the troops of the Southern and Western Military Districts to their permanent deployment points as of Friday, April 23, as the exercises are ending.
The Minister of Defense declared that all the goals of the scientists had been achieved.
"I believe that the goals of the surprise inspection have been fully achieved. The troops demonstrated the ability to provide reliable defense of the country. In connection with this, I decided to complete the inspection activities in the Southern and Western military districts.
Let us remind you that in recent weeks, Russia has been pulling its troops to the Ukrainian border, calling it "planned exercises." At the same time, the US White House assured that since 2014, this is the largest military presence of the Russian army near the Ukrainian border.
In turn, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi believes that by escalating tensions in the east of Ukraine, Russia is conducting a test for the West and is trying to intimidate it.
