Moscow. February 15th. INTERFAX-AVN - Units of the Western and Southern military districts on Tuesday begin returning from exercises to their bases by rail and road, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"The units of the Southern and Western military districts that have completed the tasks have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today. Individual units will march on their own as part of military columns," said Igor Konashenkov, an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.
"A number of combat training activities, including exercises, have been carried out in accordance with the plan. As soon as the combat training activities are completed, the troops, as always, will make marches in a combined way to the points of permanent dislocation," he stressed.
The United States, other NATO countries and Ukraine announced the concentration of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border and the threat of a Russian invasion.
On February 10, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, confirmed that Russia has no aggressive plans against Ukraine.
On February 14, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Russian military is conducting a number of exercises, some of them have ended, others are close to completion.
"Some of these exercises are coming to an end, some will be completed in the near future," Shoigu said. "The exercises are underway, some part of them has been completed, some part is being completed," the minister added.
According to him, "the exercises are conducted by the Western Military District, practically on all fleets - this is also in the Barents Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Fleet." "Troops of almost all military districts take part in them," Shoigu said.
On February 10, Russia and Belarus began major maneuvers "Allied Resolve - 2022". The exercises in Belarus, to which Russia has transferred a number of units of the Eastern Military District with regular weapons, will last until February 20.
Moscow and Minsk announced that the Russian military will return to their permanent deployment points after the exercises.
It was reported that Russia declared two areas of the Black Sea and one in the Sea of Azov closed to navigation for the period from February 13 to 19 for exercises. On February 11, Kiev reported that Russia had canceled the closure of the Azov Sea.
On February 12, the Russian military reported that maneuvers involving more than 30 ships, aircraft and coastal troops had begun in the Black Sea.
On February 15, the Black Sea Fleet reported that artillery firing took place during maneuvers in the Black Sea.
The ships worked out the issues of defense of the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, the bases of the Black Sea Fleet forces, sea communications and areas of maritime economic activity, the fleet said.
"The exercises of naval forces, naval aviation and units of the coastal troops of the Black Sea Fleet are held in preparation for a major naval exercise under the overall leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy," the press service of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation reported.
