The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 4th that Russia could mobilize 175,000 troops early next year to attack Ukraine.
An anonymous U.S. official told WP in an interview, "Russia plans to attack Ukraine in early 2022 with twice the number of troops mobilized during the training near the Ukrainian border last spring," adding that there will be extensive operations involving about 100 battalion tactical groups totaling 175,000 troops.
According to U.S. intelligence documents cited by WP, 50 Russian battalion tactical groups have gathered in four regions, and new tanks and artillery have also been deployed. Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, said last month, "Russia has amassed more than 92,000 troops at the Ukrainian border and is preparing an attack to invade Ukraine by late January or early February next year."
It is expected that Russia's upcoming attack will be much larger in scale than the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. However, rather than large-scale territorial occupation, it is anticipated that Russia will attack Ukraine on multiple fronts to force conditional surrender and security guarantees from Ukraine and the West. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on the 11th of last month, "I do not know Russia's exact intentions, but I know Russia's script (to mobilize troops and invade)."
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet soon to discuss this issue. On his way to Camp David that day, President Biden told reporters, "I have been aware of Russia's movements for a long time, and I will have long conversations with President Putin about this issue."
When a reporter asked if he would accept President Putin's 'Red line' proposal, he replied, "I do not recognize anyone's red lines." Earlier, President Putin said that deploying missile defense systems and the like in Ukraine would cross Russia's red line.
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