Russia Moved Artillery And Missile Systems To Firing Positions Near Ukraine's Borders

The equipment has left the "gathering grounds".

Anonymous sources in the US government have reported that since Sunday, February 13, Russia has started moving long-range artillery and missile launchers to firing positions near Ukraine's borders.

This was reported by the CBC News TV channel.

The US government said that the equipment had left "gathering grounds" but had not yet reached positions for an attack.

The broadcaster says the attack on Ukraine is expected to begin at the end of the week, but officials are not yet sure "what form it will take". Government sources believe the Russian army has amassed 80 per cent of the necessary resources for the attack.

TV reporters believe that if an attack is launched, the US will no longer be able to follow the details given the absence of an army on land and in the air. Russia may also launch cyber attacks to cut off communications.

Threat of Russian invasion of Ukraine

According to Reuters, Joe Biden met with his national security advisers in the evening of February 10 to discuss the situation around Ukraine. The agency's interlocutor said that Russia's exercises in the Black Sea and Belarus had made US officials inclined to believe that "the situation seems to be reaching a turning point".

Earlier, President Vladimir Zelensky said that there was too much information in the information space about Russia's invasion into Ukraine. He urged not to panic and assured that "everything is under control".

On February 11, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Russia had sent additional forces to the border with Ukraine and could launch an invasion at any moment, including during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Russia has been pulling troops to the Ukrainian border since late October 2021. Defence Minister Alexei Reznikov said that as of February 7, a total of 140,000 troops were deployed along Ukraine's borders from Russia, Belarus and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.

Kiev's Western partners are concerned about possible plans for a large-scale Russian invasion and have warned about tough sanctions against Moscow.