Kremlin preparing for military strike on Ukraine - Poroshenko

20.02.2019 20:22

Ukrinform

Russia has accumulated a grouping of more than 87,000 military personnel along the border with Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko has said.

The head of state named such a figure in his speech to the UN General Assembly as part of a special debate on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

At the same time, he said that "the overall number of illegal armed formations stands now at around 35,000 militants, along with 2,100 servicemen from Russian regular armed forces."

According to the president, "military experts would tell it straight that an armed grouping at the Russian border with Ukraine is an offensive strike group personnel. It has nothing to do with defense. They are meant for a military strike. This is what the Kremlin is preparing for."

Poroshenko said that further escalation to a full-scale war is not an unrealistic prospect.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Poroshenko said: "That is why we should ensure a comprehensive, real-time monitoring of the situation along the Russian border with Ukraine. Knowing the aggressor as I know him, I would like to assure you that most of all he is afraid of transparency, public attention and the world knowing his plans."

On February 20, on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the UN held a special debate titled "The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," dedicated to the situation in Donbas and Crimea. President Poroshenko, who is on a visit to the United States, took part in a meeting of the UN General Assembly.