The Russian Federation has allocated 44,000 Russian troops at the Ukrainian border, according to intelligence information gathered by NATO, reports aldrimer.no.
The number of Russian soldiers increased in recent weeks Russia has also increased the use of special forces from the military intelligence service GRU and Spetsnaz inside Ukraine.
“Russia is entrenched in Donetsk. They have increased from 40,000 to 44,000 men in border areas. Why they are using such a huge amount of money to stay there and maintain the pressure is something all of us in NATO wonder about,” said the source.
“They are looking at what they can get away with. Maybe they take another bit. Suddenly, the Donetsk region becomes part of Russia. It’s the same situation as in Georgia. That has been frozen situation for so long and there are no signs that they will give anything back.”
NATO’s press office states that the situation in Donbas “gives grounds for serious concern”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last month that international community had to keep pressuring Russia:
“Diplomacy offers the only viable solution to the crisis in Ukraine. (…) I call on all parties to redouble their efforts to implement the Minsk Agreements in full. As a first step, we need to see an immediate and full ceasefire. In the meantime, the international community must keep pressuring Russia to respect its obligations.”
See also: Russia arms and trains its militants in Donbas – U.S. Mission to OSCE
