Interfax: Ukrainian border guards confirm withdrawal of Russian troops from border

(Interfax – May 28, 2014) The Ukrainian State Border Service has observed a withdrawal of Russian troops from the bilateral border but is wary of the remaining infrastructure.

“Our information suggests troops’ withdrawal from our border is under way, but with certain peculiarities. Intelligence radio units, radio interception units remain in place, so does the logistical infrastructure of the camps. This process (the troops’ withdrawal) is stretched over time, but such a process is under way,” Ukrainian State Border Service chief Mykola Lytvyn told a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He said that in his view, “the infrastructure that remains gives the possibility to return again at any time, so there is no complete withdrawal.”

On May 23 the chief of the Russian Army General Staff, Army Gen. Valery Gerasimov said that the Troops of the Western and Southern military districts, which were carrying out routine drills at training sites near the Russian-Ukrainian border, had started returning to their bases on May 19. He said the return would take “about twenty days.”

Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to bring back the troops which were participating in the drills in areas sharing a border with Ukraine.