According to Vadym Skibitskyi, in accordance with plans of the Russian Federation, the stepping-up of the Russian troops will be up to achieving the performance that existed in Crimea before the collapse of the USSR.

“We are seeing the stepping-up the Russian military presence in the Crimea immediately after the breaking out the Russian aggression and the annexation of the peninsula. According to data of the military intelligence of Ukraine, announced at the UN, there are 31.5 thousand servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces in the Crimea. In addition, there are other occupation forces, and this is 10-12 thousand servicemen additionally,” stated the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

Regarding the situation in the temporarily occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the representative of the military intelligence of Ukraine noted that the actions of the militants are fully controlled and directed by the command of the 8th Army of the Russian Federation

“Today, the 8th Army commands by the occupation troops. This is done under the supervision of the HQ of the Southern Military District, the General Staff and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. We see how all instructions and orders, issued by the Southern Military District HQ, are fulfilled in the occupied districts,” said the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

Military intelligence of Ukraine establishes continuous presence of officers and generals from the Southern Military District in the occupied territory of Ukraine. They control all directions of activity of the Russian occupation troops, beginning from the combat employment to full logistics support, performed from the territory of the Russian Federation.