At the moment, there is no reason to panic in Ukraine due to a possible military escalation, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
“The current situation is completely clear to us, today there is no reason for us to panic. I would really ask everyone to be calm, ”Danilov said at a briefing following the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, at which reports from the military on the situation on the border with Russia and the readiness of the army were read (TASS quote).
The head of the National Security and Defense Council also called on the media to reduce the “heat” of publications about the allegedly planned military aggression by Russia. In addition, according to Danilov, there is no active departure of diplomats from Ukraine so far: only the embassies of the United States, Great Britain and Australia are evacuating their employees. The remaining 49 countries with embassies in Ukraine did not make such decisions, he added.
In an interview published on January 19, Danilov said that the number of Russian troops on the borders with Ukraine is about 127,000 military, of which about 106,000 are ground troops, and the remaining 21,000 are air and navy. At the same time, to plan a full-scale ground operation, Russia will need at least a million troops, he noted.
The Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry have repeatedly denied information that Moscow has plans for military aggression against Ukraine. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the country is moving troops at its own discretion within its territory and is not going to attack anyone.