Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised remarks last week that the military had created four new divisions, nine brigades and 22 regiments since 2013 and deployed them in the Southern Military District, adjacent to southern Ukraine, as well as in Russia's restive North Caucasus region. "In recent years, the military-political situation on the southwestern strategic direction has become more acute," Shoigu said in citing the rationale for Moscow's military buildup in the region. "Mainly, this is due to the growing military presence of NATO in eastern Europe, the situation in Ukraine and the activities of international terrorist groups, including in the North Caucasus."
A pro-Russia rebel stands guard in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine
In an interview with the newspaper Vedomosti, Russian military expert Ruslan Pukhov noted that along with reactivating the 1st Guards Tank Army in Russia's Western Military District, near its border with northern Ukraine, Moscow plans to form two other armored groups for deployment near the Ukrainian border. According to Pukhov, along Russia's border with northern Ukraine "where three years ago there were absolutely no troops," Moscow seeks to deploy three major groups for forces "capable of, if the need arises, mounting a rapid attack in the direction of Kyiv, which is only 270 kilometers from the border through [the northern Ukrainian city of] Chernigov." Further south, wrote Pukhov, Moscow wants to "create two powerful pincers to flank and strategically encircle the main group of the Ukrainian army in Left-bank Ukraine.” That is the historic name of the part of Ukraine on the east bank of the Dnieper River.
'Enemy' seen as easy target
An article that appeared last week in the Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye — a publication which frequently features material reflecting the official position of the Russian authorities — was headlined: "Ukraine has become Russia's strategic adversary: Moscow does not exclude the possibility of a major war."
Pro-Russian troops prepare to travel in a tank on a road near the town of Yanakiyevo, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine
Alexander Golts, an independent Russian military analyst who is a visiting researcher at Sweden's University of Uppsala, says it is not surprising that Ukraine is now openly being referred to in Russia as an "enemy." "It is clear that Ukraine now is anything but a state friendly to Russia," he told VOA's Russian service. "In and of itself, the Ukrainian army, of course, is not a strategic problem for Russia. In Moscow, however, they are guided by phantom scenarios, in which Ukraine will eventually become part of NATO. One of Russia's excuses for its actions in Crimea and the Donbas is that it was acting to prevent Ukraine's possible entry into the North Atlantic alliance." According to Golts, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu already considers Ukraine part of NATO.
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