Russia Has Announced The Withdrawal Of Some Troops From Ukraine Border

Russia says it has started evacuating some of the 100,000 troops Russian Court Orders Closure Of Country’s Oldest Human Rights Group encircling Ukraine, claiming victory in the months-long standoff that threatened Europe’s first major military conflict in decades.

The Russian military ministry posted footage of departing tanks on Tuesday morning, while Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, stated, “The 15th of February 2022 will be remembered as the day when Western war propaganda failed. Without firing a single shot, they have been humiliated and annihilated.”

However, the scope of Russia’s intention to leave is unclear, and just hours before the statement, commercial and US government satellites could detect Russian airborne and helicopter units mustering their forces in a clear attack posture, according to imagery given by the Pentagon.

Officials from Ukraine appeared to be optimistic that a conflict had been avoided.
“We and our allies have found a way to keep Russia from escalating any further,” Dmytro Kuleba, Russia’s foreign minister, told reporters. “It’s already the middle of February, and diplomacy is still at work,” says the author.

For months, NATO and Ukrainian officials have expressed concern that Russia would invade after President Vladimir Putin made a set of demands, including promises that Ukraine would never join the Western alliance while deploying more than 100,000 troops to the border, backed by tanks and heavy weapons.

Last week, US officials accused Russia of strategizing an invasion on February 16th, an exceptionally rare claim given the specificity of the intelligence and the Biden administration’s willingness to declassify it, in what officials described as a move to interrogate Putin with the US’ vast intelligence capabilities.

“Too much is made of [the subject of] whether Putin will depart or not,” said a NATO official in Brussels who had been informed by the US last week and requested anonymity. “Everyone could see he was prepared and eager to go,” he added.