Russia tanks filmed roaming around city streets near Ukraine border as tensions rocket

Russia said on Tuesday some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine and mocked repeated Western warnings about a looming invasion, but NATO said it had yet to see any sign of de-escalation on the ground. Russia did not say how many units were being withdrawn, and how far, after a build-up of some 130,000 Russian troops to the north, east and south of Ukraine that has triggered one of the worst crises in relations with the West since the Cold War. But new footage has captured queues of tanks lining the streets near the Ukraine border.

It comes after video footage published by Russia’s defence ministry showed some tanks and other armoured vehicles being loaded onto railway flatcars.

But Western military analysts said they needed more information to judge the significance of the latest troop movements.

“One should maintain an air of cautious scepticism,” said Henry Boyd of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

“There have been past discrepancies between Russia’s official announcements and its actions on the ground.”

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Konrad Muzyka, director of the Poland-based Rochan consultancy, told Reuters it would take several days to verify the latest moves via satellite imagery.

“It should also be noted that new trains with equipment from Central Russia keep on arriving near the border and that Russian forces continue to move towards staging areas.

“The announcement stands in a direct opposition to what Russia has been doing for the past few days,” he said.

Commercial satellite images taken on Sunday and Monday showed a flurry of Russian military activity at several locations near Ukraine, according to the private US company that released the pictures.

“There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy should continue. This gives grounds for cautious optimism. But so far we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground from the Russian side,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.

He said Russia often left military equipment behind after exercises, creating the potential for forces to regroup.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would only believe that Russia was moving to de-escalate the situation if it saw for itself that Russian troops were being pulled back.

“If we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation,” Interfax Ukraine quoted him as saying.