The United States Government ordered this Saturday (02.12.2022) the departure from Ukrainian territory of 160 members of the Florida National Guard (one of its military reserve corps) as an extreme precautionary measure in the face of the imminent possibility of an invasion by From Russia. Several European countries have also recommended their citizens to leave Ukrainian territory.
The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, ordered “the temporary repositioning” in other destinations in Europe of these 160 reservists who have been in Ukraine since November, the Department of Defense reported in a statement. The troops are assigned to the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and have been advising and training the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the past few months.
“This repositioning does not constitute a change in our resolve to support Ukrainian forces, but it will provide flexibility to reassure our allies and prevent any aggression,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. Washington insisted this day on warning its citizens that they will not be able to be rescued from a “war zone” if they do not leave the country soon in case it is invaded by Russia.
More soldiers to southern Poland
Since 2015, US National Guard reservists have been rotating to train the Ukrainian military alongside soldiers from other NATO countries, particularly Canadians and Germans. Earlier this day, the US embassy in Kiev ordered the departure of its non-essential personnel.
Meanwhile, US soldiers sent to Poland in the framework of the Ukrainian crisis, whose mission is to help protect NATO’s borders, will be stationed in the southeast of the country, on the border with Ukraine. The same will apply to soldiers sent by Britain, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Saturday.
DZC (EFE, AFP, dpa)
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Troops deployed in the Donbass region
In the first week of April, Russia began to increase the military presence on its border with Ukraine, as a reaction to “provocations” from Ukraine, which sought to escalate the conflict between Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops, the Kremlin said. But according to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), there was no such provocation.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Heavy artillery
A tank fires during control tests of the Russian armed forces. On both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian border, troops test their weapons systems. This photo was taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
The United States will send two warships to the Black Sea
The United States, NATO and the EU pledged to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend its territory. Ankara said on Friday (09.04.2021) that the United States had already announced at the end of March that it would send two warships to the Black Sea in mid-April. The USS Thomas Hudner (pictured) is one of two missile destroyers that traversed the Bosphorus last month.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
A war that takes seven years
The conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in early 2014, when pro-Russian rebels took control of parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine. According to Kiev and its Western allies, the Kremlin unofficially supports the rebels by providing them with mercenaries and weapons. Since then, several ceasefires have been agreed upon and are continuously broken.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Civilians bear the brunt
A Donetsk resident inspects the ruins of his house, destroyed in a clash between militants from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Ukrainian armed forces. Although the conflict mainly involves soldiers, mercenaries, rebels and militiamen, the civilian population is affected once more and once more. At the beginning of 2019, the UN recorded 3,300 civilian deaths.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Ceasefire and hostilities
Since 2014, fighting of varying intensity has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people. The current ceasefire, in place since July 2020, is relatively stable, according to the OSCE. However, hostilities have increased once more recently. At least seven Ukrainian government soldiers and a five-year-old boy have been killed in the past two weeks.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Raise the morale of the troops
During a visit to the Donbass region earlier in the week (04.05.2021), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspected the situation on the ground and honored the soldiers for their services.
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Saber rattling between Moscow and Kiev in eastern Ukraine
Russian citizens on Ukrainian soil
Under international law, the renegade areas belong to Ukraine. However, some 400,000 residents have Russian citizenship. “To protect them,” Moscow announced that it would take appropriate measures. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said “Russia now has more troops on the border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014.”
Author: Jan D. Walter
