Feb. 6 (UPI) — Russia has assembled 70% of the military personnel and weapons on Ukraine’s border needed to launch a full-scale invasion of the country, according to the latest U.S. government assessment.
As of Friday, 83 battalion tactical groups — with about 750 troops each — were arrayed for a possible assault, up from 60 two weeks ago, CNN and The Washington Post reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the estimates.
The estimates warn that the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv could fall within 48 hours if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to exert his full land and air military forces. Such an invasion could leave up to 50,000 civilians killed or wounded and force up to 5 million refugees to flee the area, according to the assessments.
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan told “Fox News Sunday” that an invasion could be imminent while noting that Russia, could still opt for diplomacy.
“We are in the window,” he said. “Any day now Russia could take military action against Ukraine or it could be a couple of weeks from now or Russia could choose to take the diplomatic path instead.”
Sullivan added that U.S. officials have informed allies about the possibility of a war in Ukraine and added that President Joe Biden has directed that material support be provided in Kyiv.
“The key thing is that the United States needs to be and is prepared for any of those contingencies in lockstep with our allies and partners,” he said.
Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine, while demanding that Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries admission to NATO and calling on the military alliance to reduce deployments in Central and Eastern Europe, alleging NATO expansion poses a threat to Russian security.
The United States has warned of dire consequences for Russia if it chooses to invade Ukraine, both through loss brought on by the conflict and in the form of sanctions.
“If war breaks out it will come at an enormous human cost to Ukraine, but we believe that based on our preparations and response, it will come at a strategic cost to Russia s well,” Sullivan said Sunday.
The increased build-up of troops also comes as the Pentagon has alleged Russia might be planning to create an elaborate propaganda video depicting a fake attack against Russian territory or Russian-speaking people by Ukrainian forces as a pretext for the invasion. The Kremlin has denied such plans.
On Saturday, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, dismissed reports about the threat of the possible invasion as attempts by the United States to drum up fear.
