White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned over the weekend that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” now.
His warning about the possibility of an incursion comes just a day after U.S. officials revealed that Russia will have at least 70% of the forces in place by the middle of the month necessary for Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch a full-scale invasion, per the Associated Press.
“If war breaks out, it will come at an enormous human cost to Ukraine, but we believe that based on our preparations and our response, it will come at a strategic cost to Russia as well,” Sullivan said.
BIDEN DEPLOYING 3,000 TROOPS TO FORTIFY EUROPE AMID RUSSIA-UKRAINE STANDOFF
U.S. lawmakers were briefed about the latest military and intelligence assessments last week. Should Russia launch a full-scale invasion, it could result in as many as 50,000 civilians injured or killed and start a humanitarian crisis creating up to 5 million refugees. Russia could overtake Ukraine in a matter of two days, according to the assessments.
Eighty-three Russian battalion tactical groups, which are made up of about 750 troops apiece, are in place for a possible incursion as of Friday. It’s an increase from the 60 that had been in place two weeks ago.
There are some Russian officials who believe an invasion would be costlier and harder to accomplish than others within the government think, though they aren’t necessarily opposed to a full-scale invasion, CNN reported, citing anonymous officials speaking about communications intercepted by the U.S.
The Biden administration has warned for weeks that Russia could create a staged reason to justify an invasion. In the latest development regarding a possible “false flag operation,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby warned that “we believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations.”
Days earlier, President Joe Biden deployed roughly 3,000 troops overseas, many of whom have already reached their deployments.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The troops, none of which are going to Ukraine but are instead going to other Eastern European allies, are separate from the U.S. troops on “heightened alert” for a possible deployment for a NATO response.
At the heart of the conflict for Russia is ensuring NATO does not expand further east to include Ukraine, a former Soviet country, while the U.S. wants to defend the smaller country from what could be the largest military incursion since World War II.
