The command of the Russian army transferred to Ukraine 80% of the group of troops stationed near the border with Finland and the Baltic states.
Foreign Policy writes about this with reference to three high-ranking officials of European defense agencies.
Of the group of 30 000 soldiers who served near the borders with the Baltic states and Finland, only the "bones of the composition" remained. This applies primarily to ground forces. The size of the Northern Fleet has hardly changed, and the region also maintains a powerful grouping of the Russian Air Force.
One of the sources said that the reduction in ground forces had been observed for seven months. "Russia has had such a deployment of ground troops for decades, which has now virtually simply disappeared," the official said, noting that this state of affairs is associated with significant losses in Ukraine.
- The fact that Russia is transferring forces from Northern Europe was reported by the Western media for several months in a row. In July, they recorded the transfer of equipment and military personnel from the Alakurtti base in the Murmansk region. In September , satellites spotted the transportation of missiles from St. Petersburg towards Ukraine.