Ukraine says Russia continuing military buildup

Russia is continuing its military buildup along its border with Ukraine, Olexander Motuzyanyk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, said on Jan. 25.

During a press conference in Kyiv, Motuzianuk reported the preliminary conclusions of a joint Ukrainian-Danish-Canadian commission that inspected Russian military infrastructure and troop deployments in Rostov Oblast, which borders Ukraine, on Jan. 16-19.

In accordance with their rights under the OSCE’s Vienna agreement of 2011, the inspectors visited units in Russia’s Southern Military District, including those deployed in the cities of Rostov-on-Don, Azov, Taganrog, Novoshakhtinsk and Novocherkassk, which are close to the part of Russia’s border with Ukraine that the Ukrainian government does not control.

The inspection confirmed that Russia is creating a new military formation, the 150th Motorized Division, with over 10,000 troops. The division is being added to numerous other forces deployed in the district, and is headquartered in the town of Novocherkassk, some 50 kilometers east of Ukraine’s internationally recognized eastern border. Part of that border is now controlled by Russian troops and Kremlin-backed armed groups operating in Ukraine.

“The inspectors found huge artillery units of the Russian army in Novocherkassk. The Ukrainian side does not rule out that the 150th division’s weaponry and manpower might be used inside Ukraine,” the ministry spokesman said.

According to information provided by a spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff, Vladyslav Ponomaryov, Russia has already created combat and logistic support units for the new division, and their encampments are 90 percent ready.

The OSCE inspection group were denied access to these objects, and Russia prohibited the photographing of artillery units in Novocherkassk, Ponomariov said during the Jan. 24 press conference.

He also noted that Russia had not notified its OSCE fellow member states about the creation of the new military formation, in violation of the 2011 Vienna agreement.

However, Moscow has never concealed its intention to build up its military might all along its border with Ukraine, as well as in Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor to the north. According to official sources, in 2013-2016, four new divisions, nine brigades, and 22 regiments were created in the Southern Military District alone, including two missile brigades armed with Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems.

In a Jan. 25 statement, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu confirmed that Moscow would continue enhancing its southern military district in 2017 “due to the situation in Ukraine and terrorist activity in the Northern Caucasus.”

As of February 2016, Ukrainian military intelligence reported that Russia has deployed at least 24 tactical combat groups, with a total of over 34,000 troops, near the Ukrainian border.