Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigi has said private US military firms are planning provocations in Eastern Ukraine that will involve chemical components.
“Tanks with unidentified chemical components have been delivered to the cities of Avdeevka and Krasny Liman to commit provocations”, Shoigu told a Russian Defense Ministry gathering on Tuesday.
The minister pointed out that advisers from American private military companies (PMCs) have been dispatched to Ukraine’s Donbass setting up firing positions and defenses, training Ukrainian special forces.
“The presence of more than 120 employees of American PMCs was reliably estimated in the settlements of Avdeevka and Pryazovske in [eastern Ukraine’s] Donetsk Region. They are setting up firing positions in residential buildings and socially significant facilities, training Ukrainian special ops task forces and radical military groups for active hostilities”, Shoigu said.
Separately, he noted that the US is ramping up its military presence near Russia’s borders, with about 8,000 American military personnel already deployed in Eastern Europe.
He also said that NATO is practicing options for using coalition groups against Russia, referring to Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, who take part in the alliance’s military drills.
“NATO pays special attention to the troop deployment to the eastern flank of the alliance, including from the continental part of the US. The drills include working out various options to use coalition groups against Russia that comprise non-NATO members”, Shoigu said.
The Russian defense minister also said that “the US and NATO are purposefully increasing the scale and intensity of troop training activities near Russia”.
Source: Sputnik
