Ukrainian media reported however that Zelenskyy’s office was behind the resignation of Taran and four other ministers, who were also dismissed by parliament on Wednesday. Davyd Arakhamia, the head of the parliamentary faction of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, said Taran had health problems. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Andriy Taran submitted his resignation and Ukrainian lawmakers quickly approved it Wednesday. “Russia has periodically deployed and built up troops to maintain tensions in the region and exert political pressure on neighboring countries,” it said. It said specifically that units of the Russian 41st army have remained in Yelnya, about 260 kilometers (about 160 miles) north of the Ukrainian border. The ministry said Wednesday that about 90,000 Russian troops are stationed not far from the border and in rebel-controlled areas in Ukraine’s east. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s statement marked an about-turn from its denial of any Russian military buildup - as reported in U.S. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine complained Wednesday that Russia has kept tens of thousands of troops not far from the countries’ border after war games, as part of its attempts to exert pressure on its ex-Soviet neighbor.
