Blinken: A Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin at any time

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New Russian forces continue to reach the Ukrainian border once and for all invasion of Ukraine could begin at any time, even during the Beijing Winter Olympics, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today.

Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne after a meeting of the Quad – the formation quadripartite cooperation which includes the United States, Australia, India and Japan – Blinken said Washington would continue to reduce its embassy staff in Ukraine.

He repeated it State Department appeal to American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately.

“Simply put, we continue to see very worrying signs of Russian escalation, including the arrival of new forces on the Ukrainian border,” Blinken told a news conference in Melbourne.

“As we have said before, (…) an invasion could start at any time and, to be clear, this includes the Olympic Games,” he added.

Meanwhile, photos of a private US company taken by commercial satellites show new Russian military developments in locations near Ukraine.

US-based Maxar Technologies, which has been monitoring the deployment of Russian forces for weeks, said photos taken the day before yesterday, Wednesday, and yesterday, Thursday, showed significant new developments at several locations in annexed Crimea, western Russia. and Belarus.

Reuters notes that it could not confirm the authenticity of the photos from an independent source.

In Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 by deporting from Ukraine, Maxar says it has spotted a major new troop deployment at Oktyabrskoye airport north of Simferopol, which includes 550 military tents and hundreds of vehicles.

New troops and equipment have also arrived near Novozernog, Crimea, according to the same source, which also points to a new development near Slavne, on the peninsula’s northwest coast.

In Belarus, where major joint military exercises are held, Maxar says it has spotted a new deployment of troops, military vehicles and helicopters at Ziambrovka Airport near Gomel, less than 25 km from the Ukrainian border.

In a statement sent by e-mail on Thursday, Maxar said a large deployment of troops and forces had recently taken place from the Kursk exercise area in western Russia, about 110 km east of the Ukrainian border.

Russia has not disclosed the number of troops it has deployed and stresses that it has the right to move forces throughout its territory, if it deems it appropriate. He insists that these forces do not pose a threat to other countries.

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