(John Ransom, Headline USA) Russia announced that it has finished drilling its divisions from the southern and western military districts that the Biden administration has warned would invade Ukraine, and begun the process of returning those divisions to their home bases said Citizen Free Press, citing statements at RT.com, a Russian-controlled media outlet.
“As the forces complete their military exercises, they will, as always, complete a multimodal march back to their permanent bases,” said Russian Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the defense ministry, according to Citizen Free Press.
“The divisions of the South and West Military Districts have finished their tasks and have already begun loading the rail and automobile transport, and today will begin moving back to their military garrisons.”
The Western press, however, has only reported that “some forces” will be pulling back, leaving the door open to a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a later date, as Biden officials said Russian forces are continuing to assemble near the Russian-Ukraine border according to Reuters.
Zelenskiy again says US messaging unhelpful:
“I think there’s too much out there about a full-scale war from Russia, and people are even naming dates. The best friend for our enemies is panic in our country, and all this information only creates panic, it doesn’t help us.”
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) February 12, 2022
“Western officials,” said Reuters, “continued to warn Tuesday that the Russian military could attack at any time, with some floating Wednesday as a possible invasion day.”
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Biden had closed the US embassy in Kyiv, in a sign that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine at any moment—or at least in a sign that Washington was preparing for a Russian invasion.
“[US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken called the relocation and effective closure of the embassy, which followed an earlier evacuation of the bulk of its personnel, a temporary measure, undertaken for one reason — the safety of our staff,” and repeated that all U.S. citizens in Ukraine should leave the country immediately, reported the Post.
But Moscow has said that it won’t succumb to the war hysteria generated by the Biden Administration.
“Hysteria has reached its peak,” said Yuri Ushakov, a senior Russian foreign policy adviser about the White House, according to the Guardian.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky also hit out at US officials for creating a panic atmosphere in Ukraine, saying the predictions by Biden officials of when Russia will invade Ukraine have not been helpful.
“I think there’s too much out there about a full-scale war from Russia, and people are even naming dates,” Zelensky said, according to Foreign Policy.
“The best friend for our enemies is panic in our country, and all this information only creates panic, it doesn’t help us.”
