A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.
Associated Press
- Russia has deployed roughly 7,000 more soldiers to the border with Ukraine, a US official said.
- That brings the total deployment to more than 150,000 troops.
- The report comes a day after Russia claimed it was reducing its troop presence.
Russia has deployed around 7,000 more soldiers to the border with Ukraine, a senior US official said Thursday, according to multiple news outlets, a report that comes just a day after Moscow claimed it was reducing its troop presence.
“We now know it was false,” the official said, according to NBC News.
The Biden administration had warned last week that a full-scale Russian invasion of its neighbor could begin as early as this past Wednesday — a date that Russia marked with its purported withdrawal of some forces.
“Every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk, and make claims about de-escalation, while privately mobilizing for war,” the official said, per CNN.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia has now stationed more than 150,000 troops along the border with Ukraine. In 2014, Moscow seized part of the country, Crimea, after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in the face of mass protests. Russia has also backed separatists in the east of the country, claiming it is doing so to protect Russian speakers.
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