Polish troops 'not on combat readiness' says defence ministry

Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak before a meeting of Poland's National Security Council on Monday: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk

Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has told the TVN24 news station that "there are no movements of Polish troops which deviate from their usual routine" and that any movement of soldiers and equipment are due to "routine exercises".

"I know in a tense situation like this, the more something is denied the more [the claims] become true," Siemoniak said.

Photographs of troop movements spread on the internet on Monday, with speculation that the Polish army was mobilizing after the crisis in Ukraine deepened over the weekend.

"In the current situation, there are no reasons to put Polish army units at a higher level of combat readiness," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The reports of troop movements came as Russia's President Putin inspected exercises by Russian navy warships and coastal troops conducting live fire exercises Monday in the country’s western Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions, not far from Poland's and Ukraine's borders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (2-L) and Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu (2-R) are seen upon arrival at the Kirillovsky military testing ground next to Commander of the Western Military District Anatoly Sidorov (R) in Leningrad region, Russia, 03 March 2014, to watch military exercises: photo - EPA/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV

The exercises were part of a combat readiness test ordered by President Vladimir Putin last week, Russian media reports.

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier claimed the "surprise" inspections of more than 150,000 troops of western and northern military units were not connected with events in Ukraine.

Poland's General Marek Dukaczewski had complained that Russia had not informed Poland before the start of the exercises last week.

President Putin ordered the 150,000 troops to return to bases on Tuesday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (pg)