US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mike Carpenter warned Friday that Russia has increased the number of its forces along the borders of Ukraine to as many as 190,000 troops.
“This estimate includes military troops along the border, in Belarus, and in occupied Crimea; Russian National Guard and other internal security units deployed to these areas; and Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine,” the OSCE said Friday in a statement.
“This is the most significant military mobilization in Europe since the Second World War.”
NATO announced Saturday that it has relocated Ukraine staff from the capital, Kiev, to the city of Levov in the west of the country, closer to Poland, and to Brussels for safety reasons.
US Sells Tanks, Guns, Counter-IED Systems to Poland
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Friday the US is selling tanks, machine guns, counter-IED systems and more to Poland in a bid to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.
The $6 billion deal was announced in Warsaw after Austin met with Poland’s National Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
In addition to the sale of 250 M1A2 Abrams tanks, the US will sell Poland 250 counter-IED systems, 26 M88 combat recovery vehicles, 17 joint assault bridges, 276 M2 .50-caliber machine guns, and thousands of rounds of explosive tracers, according to Defense One.
“This is the most modern version of the Abrams and will provide Poland with a highly advanced tank capability that will also strengthen our interoperability with the Polish armed forces, boosting the credibility of our combined deterrence efforts in those of other NATO allies,” Austin said.
Biden Warns Russia Increasing Disinformation Campaign at Home
President Joe Biden said in an update from the White House on Friday that over the past few days, observers have seen a sharp uptake in violations of the ceasefire by Russian-backed fighters attempting to provoke Ukraine in the Donbas region.
“We also continue to see more and more disinformation being pushed out to the Russian public, including Russian-backed separatists, claiming that Ukraine is planning to launch a massive offensive attack in the Donbas,” Biden said.
“It defies basic logic,” Biden said, “to assume the Ukrainians would choose this moment” to escalate a year-long conflict.
“Russian state media also continues to make phony allegations of a genocide taking place in the Donbas and push fabricated claims warning about Ukraine’s attack on Russia – without any evidence,” he said.
“All these,” he said, “are consistent with the playbook the Russians have used before, to set up a false justification to act against Ukraine.”
“The United States and Allies are prepared to defend every inch of NATO territory from any threat to our collective security as well,” he said.
But Biden emphasized that the US will not send troops in to fight in Ukraine and said the US would continue to “support the Ukrainian people” with a $1 billion sovereign loan guarantee that was announced earlier in the week and which he claimed would strengthen Ukraine’s “economic resilience.”
“The bottom line is this,” he said, “the United States and our allies and partners will support the Ukrainian people; we will hold Russia accountable for its actions. . .We’re ready to impose severe sanctions on Russia if it further invades Ukraine.”
Will that be enough to stop the increasing flow of Russian troops, military hardware and field hospitals to areas along Ukraine’s borders?
