Ukraine calls up army reserves amid fears Putin could invade ANY DAY… as Nato masses troops on Russian border
Responding to a build-up of Russian troops on the border, Ukraine has been boosting its own defences and the Sea of Azov, where Kremlin FSB border guards seized Ukrainian sailors and navy vessels last month
UKRAINE has called up its army reservists as it mobilises its armed forces amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
The men, mostly former conscripts, have been summoned for training before being dispatched to the border.
President Petro Poroshenko said today: “Ukraine is taking its own steps in response to the threat of a large-scale Russian invasion.”
The call-up comes amid a ratcheting up of tensions after Russian FSB border guards seized three Ukrainian navy vessels and their crew last week.
Ukraine imposed martial law for 30 days in 10 regions that border Russia, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea on November 28, which has banned all Russian men of military age from entering the country.
President Poroshenko also called on Germany and other NATO countries such as Britain to boost their naval presence in the Black Sea to scare Russia off.
But the Kremlin denounced Mr Poroshenko’s latest announcement as an “absurd” bid to stoke tensions.
And it accused NATO of a massive build-up of troops and heavy weaponry along its borders with Eastern Europe.
More than 12,000 alliance troops, plus tanks, air defences and combat aircraft are deployed and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
Tensions in the region have been growing since Moscow annexed Crimea — legally Ukrainian territory — in 2014 after protests forced out a Russia-friendly government in Kiev.
Meanwhile at a conference in Sochi today, Russia’s brass said they were considering beefing up the armed services amid US President Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Russia’s Defensive Minister Sergei Shoigu said: “The measures were considered to reinforce the (armed) forces’ combat capacity and means amid the mounting arms race related to the US plans to quit the INF Treaty.”
On Sunday it was revealed that Russia had successfully tested its modernised air defence missiles which are to be tasked with protecting Moscow from attack.
But satellite images reveal Russia has deployed S-400 surface-to-air missile battery on Ukrainian border.
And an intelligence report by has now reveals infrastructure for the missiles was put in place months ago.
Last photograph latest shows the missile launchers themselves in place in an airbase near the Crimean border.
The Russian military has begun deploying a new missile system designed to operate in the Arctic.
The deployment comes as the country said it is preparing for the arrival of new American missiles in Europe after Donald Trump threatened to quit a Cold War era arms treaty.
Russia’s defence ministry said it has now received the first batch of Tor-M2DT surface-to-air missile systems designed for the Arctic region,
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