Washington. February 12. INTERFAX - The US Defense Ministry has decided to temporarily withdraw about 160 US military instructors from Ukraine due to the tense situation, The New York Times (NYT) reports, citing Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
In a statement, Kirby said that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the temporary relocation "somewhere in Europe" of instructors. We are talking about the soldiers of the Florida National Guard. They, as noted, worked at a Ukrainian base near the border with Poland.
The publication, referring to the Pentagon, reports that these 160 military personnel have been in Ukraine since the end of November 2021. They, working as part of a multinational team, advised and trained the Ukrainian military.
Kirby himself, in turn, tweeted about Austin's order, but did not name the number of military personnel who should be withdrawn from Ukrainian territory.
"The Minister of Defense ordered the temporary relocation of the Florida National Guard military from Ukraine. Caution and ensuring the safety of our military is of paramount importance to him," Kirby said on Twitter.
