Russia has added as many as 7,000 troops near the Ukraine border in recent days, contrary to claims by President Vladimir Putin that troops would be pulled back from the region, a senior US administration official has claimed.
Russia has massed about 150,000 troops east, north and south of Ukraine, according to Western estimates.
Moscow denies it has any plans to invade, and this week announced a pullback of some forces and weapons. While details are scarce and the withdrawal is only partial, the Russian statements have lowered the political temperature following weeks of escalating tensions.
But according to the US official said there has been a marked increase in false claims by Russians, including reports of unmarked graves of civilians allegedly killed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, statements that the US and Ukraine are developing biological or chemical weapons, and claims the West is funnelling in guerrillas.
The official was not authorised to speak publicly about sensitive operations and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official did not provide underlying evidence.
It comes as US Vice President Kamala Harris heads to Germany on Thursday to speak with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
While a Russian invasion of Ukraine has not materialised as feared, the UK, the US and their allies continue to maintain the threat is strong with Europe’s security and economic stability in the balance.
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News that instead of a Russian withdrawal, “we’ve seen continued build-up of things like field hospitals and strategic weapons systems.”
Mr Putin has signalled he wants a peaceful path out of the crisis, and US President Joe Biden promised that the US would continue to give diplomacy “every chance,” but he struck a sceptical tone about Moscow’s intentions.
Mr Biden also insisted Washington and its allies would not “sacrifice basic principles” respecting Ukraine sovereignty.
Russian Defence Ministry video showed a trainload of armoured vehicles moving across a bridge away from Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It also announced that more tank units were being loaded on trains to move back to their permanent bases after training exercises.
But at the same time, Russia continued war games near Ukraine’s borders and across its vast territory.
“We haven’t seen a pullback,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News. “He (Putin) can pull the trigger. He can pull it today. He can pull it tomorrow. He can pull it next week. The forces are there if he wants to renew aggression against Ukraine.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US had seen “more Russian forces, not fewer.”
Asked why Russians would claim to be withdrawing when government intelligence, commercial satellite photos and social media videos showed no evidence of that, Mr Price said: “This is the Russian playbook, to paint a picture publicly … while they do the opposite.”
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance also had not seen “any withdrawal of Russian forces,” as did multiple European governments.
Before chairing a Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels, he said: “If they really start to withdraw forces, that’s something we will welcome, but that remains to be seen.”
In the meantime, the alliance is examining this week how and when to rapidly dispatch troops and equipment to countries closest to Russia and the Black Sea region should Moscow order an invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also dismissed the Russian withdrawal claims.
“What is this? Rotations, withdrawal, returning back again,” he said on a visit to the south-eastern city of Mariupol. “It’s too early to rejoice.”
The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly sought to project calm as well as strength during the crisis, declaring Wednesday a “Day of National Unity.”
“We are united by a desire to happily live in peace,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation earlier in the day. “We can defend our home only if we stay united.”
The United States is ready to keep engaging in diplomacy, but we are also ready to respond decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/fpeUMiOar2
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 16, 2022
Across the country, Ukrainians of all ages waved flags in the streets and from apartment windows in a show of defiance against Moscow.
Hundreds unfolded a 200-metre flag at Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium, while another was draped in the centre of a shopping mall in the capital.
In the government-controlled part of Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops since 2014, residents stretched another huge flag across a street.
“This event, this number of people united around Ukrainian flag will show that we stand for united Ukraine,” said resident Olena Tkachova.
