Russia has assembled 70% of the military firepower it intends to have to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, officials say.
WASHINGTON -- Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give President Vladimir Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials say.The officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on condition they not be identified, sketched out a series of indicators suggesting Putin intends an invasion in coming weeks, although the size and scale are unclear.
The ongoing Russian buildup comes as the Biden administration has been disclosing intelligence in hopes of preemptively countering Russian disinformation and blocking Putin's plans for creating a pretext for an invasion. But it has come under criticism for not providing evidence to back up many of its claims.
Army officials on Saturday announced that Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, arrived in Poland. About other 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne are deploying to Poland from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and 300 soldiers are deploying from Bragg to Germany. In addition, 1,000 Germany-based soldiers are shifting to Romania.
More recently, other U.S. officials provided a more detailed breakdown of Russia's continuing force buildup, of U.S. assessments of prospects for war, and of the U.S. view of Putin's approach to the crisis. As of Friday, the officials said, the Russian army has put in place near Ukraine a total of 83"battalion tactical groups," each of which is roughly equivalent in size to an American battalion of between 750 and 1,000 soldiers. That is an increase from 60 battalion tactical groups in position just two weeks ago, they said.
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