plan Russian President Vladimir Putin It remains unclear, and US officials still don’t know what’s next or whether Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine.
But some US officials who have seen the intelligence say there is evidence that Russia is planning an attempt to take over the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and overthrow the government, according to CNN.
The US sources considered the deployment of forces from Russia’s Eastern Military District in Belarus on Monday as ominous, as was the series of cyber-attacks targeting Ukraine last week.
There are also those who believe that Russia is likely to start a very limited operation in eastern Ukraine aimed at securing a land bridge to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
A Ukrainian official, as in the case of US Joe Biden’s administration, said Ukrainian officials had not concluded that Putin had made his decision, adding that the talks in Europe had no tangible impact on the crisis.
Meanwhile, the buildup of Russian forces along the borders of Ukraine and in neighboring Belarus continued to grow.
“We see that this does not lead to de-escalation, the process of mobilization continues. But it is still not enough to carry out and sustain a large-scale invasion, but the mobilization is considered large,” the official said.
As part of the military buildup, Russia has deployed more aircraft near the border, raising fears of a significant air component in a possible invasion.
The official added that Ukrainian defense officials are in daily contact with their American counterparts at the Pentagon, preparing for a variety of different actions that the Russians could take.
“We have prepared a response for every scenario… We will fight if something happens. Our people are ready to fight and every window will shoot if the Russians enter,” the official said.
For its part, US sources revealed that the Biden administration is studying new options, including providing more weapons to Ukraine to resist the Russian occupation, in an attempt to raise costs for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he decides to invade the country.
The discussions, described by multiple insiders, reflect a sense of pessimism in the administration after last week’s diplomatic talks with Russian officials yielded no breakthroughs as Russia continues to raise its power levels in the past few days.
The United States is evaluating options to enhance the ability of Ukrainian forces to resist a possible Russian occupation.
That includes potentially providing the Ukrainian military with additional munitions, mortars, Javelin anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft missile systems, which will likely come from NATO allies, a senior US official told CNN.