Kyiv raises the issue at OSCE Council about Russian military buildup near Ukrainian border
During the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Thursday, December 13 in Vienna, Ihor Prokopchuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna drew attention to hundreds of Russian tanks which are amassed at the border with Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
"While Russia, as the aggressor-state, continues to push Ukraine, bring groundless allegations and carry out unsuccessful falsifications, recent satellite images show hundreds of battle tanks deployed by Russia near the border with Ukraine, less than 20 kilometers away. They have been there for two weeks,” Prokopchuk stated.
He noted that this and the Russian military presence in the region, including in the annexed territories, "emphasized the unpredictability of Russia’s further behavior.”
The Ukrainian diplomat urged OSCE member countries not to let Russia divert the world's attention "from its illegal actions and further aggressive actions that are based on the powerful military opportunities of the aggressor-state and political will at the highest level for their implementation.”
Google Earth satellite images taken in late November showed the suburbs of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov region with hundreds of Russian tanks near the border with Ukraine. Т-64 and Т-62М tanks and several thousand military trucks could be identified in the photos.
In late November, Russia deployed fighter aircraft and other military equipment at the open parking fields of Belbek aerodrome near Sevastopol.