According to Kyiv’s new intelligence assessment, Moscow’s military buildup includes both air and sea components. Belarus is also supporting it with troops. Ukraine’s intelligence stated that it “should be treated as a full-fledged theatre of operations”
127,000 Russian troops have allegedly been mobilised, raising concerns about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine. CNN in the United States aired that, “Over 106,000 Russian armed soldiers are stationed on the ground near Ukraine under the command of the RF AF (Russian Federation’s Armed Forces) and almost 127,000 military members make up the land, sea, and air components combined,” based on the most recent intelligence assessment of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry.
Russian efforts to “split and undermine” the European Union and NATO have been described as “challenging” in a new assessment of current regional conditions. Also, Ukraine’s assessment stated that Russia was using its ally Belarus to “escalate aggression” against Kyiv, according to the report. As per Ukraine’s intelligence summary, “they should regard the territory of Belarus as a full-fledged theatre of operations that Russia can utilise to intensify hostilities against Ukraine.”
Russia can launch an attack on Ukraine anytime. On Tuesday, the United States also increased its assessment of the threat to Ukraine, stating that Russia is prepared to attack. “We’re now in a situation where Russia might at any time start an attack on Ukraine,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said to the media.
He also stated, “as far as I can tell, that’s a lot more stark than we have ever been.”
When Psaki characterised the situation in Ukraine, Secretary of State Blinken was due to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.
Meanwhile, a senior US State Department official has raised fears that Russian forces being deployed in Belarus for joint military drills may “possibly” be used to invade Ukraine.
According to a senior State Department source, the United States is also concerned that Belarusian constitutional revisions might lead to the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in the country itself.
All this highlights the influence Russia wields in its neighbouring states and how it is aiming to increase it more.
