Suspilne Crimea found out what is happening near the Ukrainian-Russian border and in the occupied territories.

The first recordings of the movement of Russian military equipment in occupied Crimea began in late March 2021. Crimeans saw another column of military equipment on the route Tavrida from Kerch towards Feodosia.

On March 30, Ruslan Khomchak, Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported about Russian build-up on the border with Ukraine.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia is increasing its troops near the state border of Ukraine in preparation for the West 2021 exercise, which will be held jointly with Belarus in September.

On March 30, 2021, 28 battalion tactical groups of the enemy have already been concentrated along the border and temporarily occupied territories.

Khomchak noted that enemy troops are concentrated in occupied Crimea, as well as in the Rostov, Bryansk, and Voronezh regions.

"Additional concentration of up to 25 tactical groups is expected, together with those already available at the border, poses a threat to the state's military security", - he said.

The Chief of the General Staff added that during the occupation of Crimea, the unification of Russian troops has increased, now it is 32,700 troops, and 14 combat brigades-regiments have been deployed in temporary occupied territory.

Khomchak also stated that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine plans to increase the number of military groups in the controlled part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as in the Crimean direction to "stop provocative actions and respond to threats".

On April 3, the occupying "authorities" in Crimea decided to check the readiness of the Black Sea Fleet, which is stationed on the Ukrainian peninsula.

The occupiers reported that naval groups, ground forces, aircraft, and air defense were working on offensive and defense tasks.

Source: Ministry of Defense of the RF

It became known that soldiers of the 76th Guards Airborne Assault Division of the Russian Armed Forces, who fought in Donbas in 2014, were transferred to occupied Crimea.

Source: citeam-ru.medium.com

Head of the investigation group Conflict Intelligence Team, Ruslan Leviev, told Suspilne Crimea that there had been a mass transfer of troops for the past two weeks, and the group is searching for videos from social networks.

"Russia wants to put pressure on Ukraine's political leadership, as well as on its partners - the US, NATO, to show its position on the annexation of Crimea, on unrecognized republics, to show its position to the new Biden administration",- he said.

On April 6, the press service of the Land Forces of Ukraine reported that a meeting of the Territorial Defense (TrO) had been announced in the south of Ukraine to form and train units.

The TrO units will be tasked with controlling settlements, strengthening and protecting the administrative border with occupied Crimea, guarding and defending certain facilities, and combating groups of saboteurs.

On April 8, members of the Conflict Intelligence Team discovered a field camp of Russian troops in the Voronezh region, about 250 km from the border with Ukraine.

Source: Maxar

The searchers noted that the echelons with equipment are most often located in the Voronezh region, which borders the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.

"The concentration of Russian forces in the Voronezh region is worrying because it cannot be explained only by exercises, but also by preparations for the Ukrainian offensive, which continues to be predicted in the so-called LNR and DNR. It is impossible to imagine that Ukrainian troops would launch an offensive across the Russian border, and it would be more logical to place troops in the Rostov region to send troops to Donbas to support separatist formations. Therefore, it is obvious that the disposition of Russian forces, at least in the Voronezh region, is more offensive than defensive", - the investigators said.

On April 9, CNN citing a source in the US Department of Defense reported that the United States was considering sending warships into the Black Sea in the next few weeks. Thus, the White House intends to show its support for Ukraine.

The Defense official also noted that the US Navy continues to fly reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea to monitor the activities of the Russian Navy and any troop movements in occupied Crimea.

The State Duma of the Russian Federation reacted to the corresponding plans of the USA.

"I think that the overestimation of tensions around Russia's borders and the Black Sea coast is an integral part of the overall strategy, but we understand the limits of the possibilities that exist in this issue in the United States. And there should be no panic about the next appearance of US Navy ships", - said Konstantin Zatulin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs.

Speaker of the Ukrainian delegation to the Tripartite Contact Group Oleksiy Arestovych told Ukrinform that Russia was using aggravation at the front to legalize ORDLO militants in the negotiation process.

"The main purpose of this mechanism is to legalize the so-called LPR / DPR as a party to the conflict and to transfer Russia to the status of a mediator.The Russians demanded to repeat or legalize such a thing as an inspection of our positions, as (suggested) in Shumy. Of course, we told them that this would not happen", - Arestovich said.

Igor Zhovkva, deputy head of the President's Office, said the Kremlin had refused to negotiate with the leaders of the Normandy Four.

"When there was an escalation at the front, we immediately asked for talks with all three representatives of the Normandy Four. The Kremlin refused. Now, I repeat, talks are planned with the leaders of Germany and France", - Zhovkva said.