“The US had reason to believe that Russian forces were planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days. As of this moment I am convinced that he has made the decision.”
These were the words of US President, Joe Biden, when he spoke Friday about the ongoing situation between Ukraine and Russia.
Citing US intelligence reports, Biden said the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, would carry out an invasion on Ukraine in the coming days.
He explained that the assessment was based on US intelligence, which suggested the capital Kyiv would be targeted but Russia denies it is planning to invade.
Western nations accuse Russia of trying to stage a fake crisis in breakaway eastern regions of Ukraine to give it a reason to launch an offensive.
The US estimates there are 169,000-190,000 Russian personnel massed in and near Ukraine, a figure that includes Russian-backed fighters in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
In a televised address from the White House, Biden said Russia could still choose diplomacy and that it was not too late to de-escalate and return to the negotiating table.
Earlier on Friday, in another sign of rising tensions, leaders of the two separatist areas announced an evacuation of residents, saying Ukraine had intensified shelling and was planning an attack.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it is not planning any attack, and Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, dismissed what he called “Russian disinformation reports”.
On Friday night, Ukraine’s military intelligence service said it had received information that explosives had been planted at infrastructure facilities in Donetsk in preparation for a so-called false flag attack – an operation carried out with the intention of blaming an opponent for it.
Russia has been backing an armed rebellion in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region since 2014. About 14,000 people – including many civilians – have died in fighting.
