RIA Novosti: Ukraine Says No Russian Troops Within 10km of Border

KIEV, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service did not detect any Russian troops within ten kilometers of Ukraine’s eastern border during aerial inspections on Monday, a spokesman for the service said Tuesday.

“An aircraft inspection of 820 kilometers of the border was conducted yesterday. We did not detect any wrongdoing, any convoys crossing the border. As for the presence of Russian military units within about ten kilometers from the Ukrainian border, we saw none,” Serhiy Astakhov said at a press-con ference.

“What is currently happening in a 100-kilometer zone, is not the question you should ask us,” he added.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the return of all troops involved in drills in the Rostov, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions on the border with Ukraine to their permanent bases to continue their military training.

The US, however, said earlier on Monday that it had received no evidence proving the troops were leaving their temporary bases near the border with Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov confirmed Tuesday in an interview with the BBC’s Daniel Sandford that the withdrawal of troops from temporary bases near the Ukrainian border was already underway.