Commander of Joint Forces says how many troops Russia has deployed in northern direction

The commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"The enemy is engaging two cover groups for the protection of the state border in the northern direction, which are deployed in the southern part of Belarus and in the territories of the Bryansk and Kursk regions of Russia, with a total number of about 17,000 personnel. In addition, the presence of a Russian contingent of a regional group of forces, totaling about 2,800 personnel, is maintained at Belarusian training grounds. Aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces continue to be stationed at Belarusian military airfields," Nayev said.

He emphasized that the situation in this area is controlled by the Defense Forces, but the Russian troops continue to systematically shell the border of Sumy and Chernihiv regions with artillery, conduct aerial reconnaissance to target critical civilian infrastructure and expose Ukrainian air defense systems.

• The commander of the AFU Joint Forces, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, believes that Russia does not have the forces and means to conduct offensives in areas other than those in Luhansk and Donetsk regions.