Number of Russian tanks near border with Ukraine has tripled - Poroshenko
He stated this in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels on Tuesday, November 27, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"In fact, what happened on November 25 is an extraordinary event for the first time in four-and-a-half years of Russian aggression. Officially, without tearing off chevrons, without 'little green men,' Russian troops in large numbers attacked the ships of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Poroshenko said.
The president demonstrated the intelligence data and satellite images: "The intelligence provided several proofs. I want to show them for the first time. This is a Russian military base located 18 km from our border. September 17, September 24. These are all tanks. This is October. As you can see, the number of tanks in the bases located along our border has tripled. Why were they relocated there? The number of units re-deployed along the entire length of our border has dramatically increased."
"That is why I don't want anybody to think that it's a trifle. The country is under the threat of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation," Poroshenko said.
He noted that in the Sea of Azov, Russian ships are located throughout the entire water area, with a special concentration in the area of the Kerch Strait. "Thus, they knew, they were getting ready. These were purposeful actions, with the provision of the necessary aviation, means of electronic warfare, paratroopers, and special forces," Poroshenko said.
On November 25, Russian border ships carried out aggressive actions against three Ukrainian vessels that set sail from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and captured these vessels.
They were 24 sailors on board the ships. Six of them were reported to have been wounded, however, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko said on November 27 that according to specified data, four Ukrainian sailors were injured, and one of them in a difficult condition.
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