Head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Reznikov assessed as a low probability of a large-scale escalation in the Donbass

The likelihood of a large-scale escalation in the Donbass is currently assessed as low. This was announced today in the Verkhovna Rada by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.

According to him, “different data, different dates of some events and different scenarios can be voiced.” “In no way are we downplaying the threat, but we assess the likelihood of a large-scale escalation as low in relation to the invasion of Ukraine as a whole,” RIA Novosti quoted the head of the Defense Ministry as saying.

At the same time, he did not confirm the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian border, since, according to Reznikov, “there is a movement of forces and means.”

The minister calculated that Russian troops are concentrated near Ukraine in the amount of approximately 129 thousand ground component, and together with the sea and aviation component, their number reaches about 149 thousand, Interfax-Ukraine notes.

At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Defense assured that there could be no aggression of Ukraine against Belarus in principle.

And for his part, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valery Zaluzhny made it clear that the Ukrainian army is not planning any offensive operations or shelling of civilians in the Donbass.

Meanwhile, the observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in their daily report record an increase in the number of ceasefire violations by the parties to the conflict in Donbass.

Recall that starting from November-December 2021, Western countries, as well as Ukraine, have been making statements about a possible “invasion” of Russia into Ukrainian territory. Recently, US speakers have argued that an attack could happen “any day.” Moscow denies all accusations and assures that Russia poses no threat to anyone. Earlier, various Western media indicated that the sign of the “invasion” is the accumulation of Russian military equipment in the regions bordering Ukraine. At the same time, among the likely anti-Russian sanctions were both the shutdown of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as well as restrictions against Russian energy companies, and the shutdown of the SWIFT international interbank settlement system.

Recently, The Sun tabloid claimed that Russia’s “invasion” of Ukraine would take place at 3:00 Kyiv time (4:00 Moscow time) on February 16, which ultimately did not happen.

And yesterday, the Politico newspaper “set” a new date for the “attack” of Russian troops on Ukraine – February 20.

For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that Russian troops are preparing to launch an invasion of Ukraine in “the coming days.”

Moreover, the British Ministry of Defense has already published on its Twitter a map of a possible Russian attack on the cities of Ukraine, including from the territory of Belarus and Crimea. In total, the military department has identified seven routes.