Western security sources said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not stopped amassing forces near the border with Ukraine, since the virtual summit he held with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, in early December, according to the Sky News channel.
Russia has moved hundreds of tanks, artillery, and even short-range ballistic missiles from as far away as Siberia to the borders of Ukraine.
According to US intelligence, Russia may launch a military attack on Ukraine by the end of next January, with nearly 100 tactical battalions comprising 175,000 soldiers.
But the Kremlin denies plans to invade Ukraine, citing Western provocations and Ukrainian mobilizations in return, and stresses that Russia's military moves do not threaten anyone.
Despite Biden's threat, during the summit, that Moscow would pay a "heavy price" in the event of an invasion of Ukraine, Russia did not withdraw the tanks, artillery, and thousands of soldiers who were deployed on the border with its western neighbor.
For example, two days after the summit between Putin and Biden, mechanized infantry units were transferred from St. Petersburg to camp east of Kursk, which is only 100 km from the border with Ukraine, according to “Voice of America” quoted a global intelligence company that relies on sources Open, UK-based.
Independent military observers say that some of the Russian military units currently stationed on the border with Ukraine came from very far away, such as Siberia and the border with Mongolia; tanks that are usually stationed in the greater Moscow region have been moved to the border in recent weeks.
But the US and European intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, believed that a Russian invasion was not imminent.
Intelligence officials in the United States said that Moscow has deployed between 70-100 thousand soldiers on the border, but they expect the strength of the forces to reach 175,000 before any military invasion.
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