US intelligence on Monday suggested that Russia may launch an invasion of Ukraine at any moment. The Pentagon last night warned that a major military action from Russia could happen “any day now”.
As per the latest US intelligence reports briefed by the Pentagon, over 130,000 Russian troops stationed at the Russian-Ukrainian border are planning to cross the border “at any moment”, possibly as soon as Wednesday, reported the Daily Mail.
In a chilling description of what the invasion might entail, Jake Sullivan, White House’s national security adviser told CNN that the Russians may begin with a significant barrage of missiles and bomb attacks followed by an onslaught of ground forces moving across the Ukrainian frontier.
For the past few weeks, Russia has amassed over 100000 troops alongside the Ukrainian border threatening to invade Ukraine should it not abandon its plan to join NATO.
Russian troops have also been holding massive military drills with live ammunitions with their Belarussian counterparts, believed to be a warning of an imminent full-blown invasion.
Meanwhile, several European airlines have suspended their flight operations in Ukraine due to the looming fears of the Russian invasion and the threat of hit squads and saboteurs trying to enter the country.
The US has already evacuated its diplomatic staff in Kyiv and told other Americans to leave Ukraine instantly. Australians too followed suit by evacuating their embassy staff from Ukraine on Sunday.
President Joe Bidden warned Russia of drastic consequences if it goes ahead with its plan to invade Ukraine. US and Western countries warned of a “swift and decisively” response to any further aggression from Moscow.
“Any military aggression would have consequences that would be very high for Russia and its prospects, and that we are united with our allies”, German chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament on Friday.
The US European nations have also threatened Russia with severe and crippling economic sanctions in case it threatens Ukrainian sovereignty and freedom.
However, a Russian mocked Western threats and said President Putin “doesn’t give a s*** about western sanctions” adding that the more the West pushes Russia, the stronger the response will be.
Over the last few weeks, several leading European statesmen including German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have rushed back and forth to Moscow in a last-ditch effort of de-escalation.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also expected to take a whistle-stop tour of Europe in a last-ditch diplomatic blitz to avert war in Ukraine and to pull Russia “back from the brink”, reported the Daily Mail.
Interestingly, in all these meetings, Russia denied it is planning to invade Ukraine. Instead, it accused America of stoking a war hysteria over US intelligence suggestions that Kremlin could fabricate a “false flag” pretext to attack.
Nonetheless, the upcoming few days are critical to determining if European soil once again gets engulfed in a massive war not heard of since World War II.
