Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree for the mobilization of reserve officers, bTV reports. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence this is a planned mobilization.

The official Russian authorities described the words by US President Joe Biden that Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine in the coming days, as disinformation.

The joint military exercises close to Ukraine are drawing to a close and Russia is planning to withdraw its military units, according to local media. However, the US President is skeptical about Russia’s pullout from the border with Ukraine.

Joe Biden also said that Russia was trying to mislead Russian society that Ukraine was planning an offensive in Donbas. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed concern over the more and more frequent violations of the truce in Donbas, accusing the authorities in Kyiv of this. Ukraine rejected the accusations, and on its part accused Russia of trying to drag Ukraine into a conflict by provocations.

Meanwhile pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin announced that the decree for general mobilization in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has been signed. The evacuation of civilians towards Russia continues.