The Pentagon is deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in Donbas and the proximity of Russian military units to Ukraine, Baldanza said.
It is also known to Pentagon that Russia has used military exercises to conceal the deployment of its troops in Ukraine, she said.
The U.S. Department of Defense has seen reports about the beginning of surprise drills by the Russian military, and it hopes that Russia will meet all obligations and will be transparent about the scope and nature of that activity, as noted in the report.
Read alsoRussian Defense Ministry deploys special forces to Ukraine border as part of exercisesAs UNIAN reported earlier, on August 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to put the Russian troops at the border with Ukraine on full combat alert "for the containment of any crisis situations." The sudden combat readiness check of Russian military units is due to last until August 31. Deputy Defense Minister Anatoliy Antonov was tasked with informing military attaches of foreign countries about the sudden comprehensive check of combat readiness.
Furthermore, on August 25, the Polish Defense Ministry held an emergency meeting to discuss this decision of the Russian leadership.
