Russia has up to 190,000 soldiers near the border with Ukraine, according to a BBC report, when on January 30 that number was about 100,000.
Washington “Russia probably has between 169,000 and 190,000 staff in and near Ukraine,” said Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
“This estimate includes military troops along the border in Belarus and the occupied Crimea“The Russian National Guard and other internal security units are being deployed in these areas and Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine,” Carpenter said in a statement.
The diplomat also stressed that the United States “knows that Russia intends to create a pretext to justify an invasion of Ukraine.”
“We have reports from many sources detailing Russia’s efforts to construct alleged ‘Ukrainian provocations’ and to formulate a public narrative that would justify a Russian invasion.”
At the same time, as stated by the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, the movement of Russian troops to the areas on the border with Ukraine continues.
“Although Russia has announced that its forces are returning to their base, we have not seen it yet. “Indeed, we are seeing more forces entering this border area,” Austin said after a meeting with his Polish counterpart Marius Blazac.
“We also see them continuing to prepare,” he said.
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