Russia continues to prepare for full-scale invasion of Ukraine

• A report from The Washington Post revealed that Russia has nearly completed preparations for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Sources stated that Russia has gathered 70% of the firepower it needs to launch an assault on its neighbor’s capital.
• Reports warn that it could be the largest military offensive in Europe since World War II, and could lead to 50,000 civilian casualties.

A large-scale invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, according to the Washington Post, which reported that Russia has almost completed its preparations.

Such an attack could reportedly take over the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, lead to 50,000 civilian casualties, and trigger a humanitarian refugee crisis, according to Amnesty International.

US military intelligence reports revealed that Russia has already gathered 70% of the firepower it needs for the attack.

Russia has denied that it has any plans to invade Ukraine. But several indicators suggest that Russian leader Vladimir Putin could launch an attack in the coming weeks. The size and scale are still unclear, however.

Several satellite photos showed about 130,000 Russian troops surrounding Ukraine. There are also several troops stationed in western Russia, Belarus, and Crimea.

According to the Washington Post, Russia has prepared around 83 Russian battalion tactical groups, composed of about 750 troops each, for possible combat.

It is the belief of international officials that such positioning signals an imminent assault on Kyiv. They also expressed concerns that such an assault could just be the largest military offensive in Europe since World War II.

Still, they argued that it’s still possible to arrange a diplomatic solution.

The Pentagon has deployed US troops to Poland, which borders Ukraine and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Around 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are also planned to be temporarily repositioned to Poland.

“You don’t park battle groups … on the border of another country twice and do nothing,” a European official told the Washington Post. “I think that’s the real fear that I have. [Putin’s] now put them all out there. If he does nothing again … what does that say to the wider international community about the might of Russia?”

Source: Insider