MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry is surprised by the announcement of NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove that four Russian battalions are staying in Ukraine, an official spokesman for the ministry told Interfax-AVN on Sept. 17.
“For a four-star general to make such loud statements relying solely on his own thoughts is light-minded, to say the least. This can be forgiven only to retiring politicians, not professional militarymen,” the spokesman said.
He described the claim of the NATO general about Russian formations in Ukraine as a wild guess.
“Four battalions with weaponry are not a needle in a bundle of hay. To say nothing about ten battalion tactical groups that allegedly stayed there a week earlier. Not only OSCE monitors but also a big number of journalists of leading Western media are now staying in the limited densely-populated area which southeast Ukraine actually is. To say nothing of the hundreds of thousands of local residents who live there,” the ministry official said.
