U.S. officials have obtained intelligence that Russia’s announced military pullback from Ukraine’s border was a deliberate ruse to mislead the United States and other world powers, four officials said Thursday, as President Biden offered a bleak warning that the Kremlin will launch an attack “in the next several days.”
The souring optimism that it would be possible to avoid conflict came just days after a flicker of hope, when Russian leaders signaled they would begin to draw down the more than 150,000 troops they have massed at Ukraine’s border. That announcement was accompanied by Kremlin-produced videos of what they claimed were tanks and other heavy equipment leaving border areas by rail car. U.S. officials now believe it was an effort to mask Russia’s true intentions in the region.
All four officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence.
See also
–US Says Russia Plans To Manufacture Justification For War
–Moscow Expels Deputy U.S. Ambassador As Pentagon Says Russian Troops Ready For Combat In Ukraine
–Russia Expulsion Of U.S. Deputy Ambassador ‘Unprovoked’ – White House