General Staff: There are half as many Russian troops near Ukrainian borders as there were on February 24

Author:
Anhelina Sheremet
Date:

The group of Russian troops, which is deployed in Belarus, the Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russia, is half the size of the group that was involved in the attack on Kyiv on February 24 — 22 000 against 45 500 occupiers.

This was stated during a briefing on December 29 by the Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Hromov.

Even if all Belarusian combat units are involved, the joint grouping of troops will number about 30 000 people, which is still less than that which participated in a full-scale invasion.

In addition, Russia removed from Belarus all stocks of ammunition for artillery systems and rocket launcher systems, which were created in the interests of the Russian army on the eve of the attack on Ukraine.

However, according to Hromov, Russia is expanding its control over Belarusian military airfields. Currently, there is ongoing work on the additional equipment of the airfield "Machulyshchi" (it is planned to turn it into a key logistics hub for the needs of the Russian army), "Baranovichi" and "Lunynets".