Russia continues to build forces near Ukraine, warns NATO chief

On Wednesday, the day some US intelligence officials said a Russian invasion was likely, Ukrainians rallied across the country in a show of solidarity and defiance, raised the national flag and sang the anthem at morning celebrations. Last night a cyberattack that shook the country targeted two of its biggest banks, temporarily disrupting payments and showing zero balances on accounts.

“We have heard a signal from Moscow to continue diplomatic efforts,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Defense ministers from 30 member states of the coalition gathered in Brussels. “But so far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. On the contrary, it appears that Russia is continuing its military build-up.”

Some 130,000 Russian troops, including 30,000 in Belarus, have gathered near Ukraine for military exercises in recent weeks, prompting the US to close its embassy in Kiev and evacuate American diplomats and military personnel. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he had ordered a “partial troop withdrawal” and was ready to continue talks with the West about Russia’s security demands and the future of Ukraine. .

On Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said some of these units had begun to leave Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine and annexed in 2014 for its permanent bases. Some of these bases are not far from Ukraine.

Ukraine has launched its own military exercises along the borders of Russia and Belarus, as well as on its southern coast, which is vulnerable to Russian amphibious landings. “Everyone who needs to defend Ukraine is doing their job. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in a televised appearance on Wednesday, “All troops to be deployed to positions to reinforce dangerous methods have been deployed, and everyone needs to get ammunition. “

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, wearing fatigue, arrived on Wednesday to oversee these exercises in the Rivne region near Belarus, and is later expected to visit frontline troops near Donetsk in the country’s east, according to his office. Planned. “Our shared desire unites us, to live together in peace,” he said in an address on Wednesday. “We are in Ukraine and no one can defend our home like we can.”

Russia’s military exercises in Belarus, which US officials say could be used by Russia to strike the Ukrainian capital from the north, are set to end on February 20, while Russian naval exercises in the Black Sea will continue until February 19. Going to do. Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Meki said on Wednesday that Moscow will leave “not a single service member, not a single piece of equipment” in the country after the exercise is completed.

US officials are skeptical of such assurances, saying the exercises could be a cover for a military attack on Ukraine. President Biden said Tuesday that a Russian offensive is “clearly possible.” Ukrainian officials also rejected Russia’s statements on withdrawal, saying that Russian troops could easily withdraw to the border – and that Kiev should prepare for a permanent threat of Russian aggression, according to Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. “Putin wakes up every morning wondering how to make sure we don’t exist anymore,” said chief Oleksiy Danilov.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has been at the center of diplomatic activity, with the leaders of France and Germany closing in between Kiev and Moscow in an effort to avert hostilities. These diplomatic efforts focused largely on the Minsk-2 agreements mediated by France and Germany in 2015, which ended major fighting between Ukraine and Russian-backed forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russia’s interpretation of the agreement, which has been rejected by Kiev, could give Moscow a veto on key Ukraine policies.

While talks have so far been fruitless, Mr Putin said on Tuesday after meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow that he expected Washington, Paris and Berlin to exert “appropriate influence” on Ukraine to pressure Minsk-2. On the same day, the Russian parliament asked Mr Putin to recognize the Russian-controlled statelets in Donetsk and Luhansk as independent nations. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the Russian president had received the request but intended to focus on implementing the Minsk agreements, under which Donetsk and Luhansk become autonomous regions within Ukraine, according to the RIA news agency. Will go

US officials said on Monday that the Russian military presence near Ukraine has grown to 105 battalion tactical groups from 83 groups earlier this month. According to US officials, Russia has also moved about 500 fighter jets within Ukraine’s borders and 40 fighters in the Black Sea.

Amid these warnings, Ukraine’s Mr Zelensky sought to boost morale and carry on the narrative by declaring Wednesday a national holiday. National flags in yellow and blue line Kiev’s main streets, and a morning rally in Kiev’s central sports stadium attracted Ukrainians to sing the national anthem, which begins with the line “Ukraine is not dead yet”.

“We have to show support for our country and our president. it is high time. We are concerned, but we are trying to avoid panic,” said Roman Dudiak, a 20-year-old university student who fled his hometown of Donetsk when it was seized by Russian-controlled forces in 2014. Russia didn’t attack us yesterday or last week, we’ve been fighting Russia for eight years.”