According to a report by the US Secret Service, Russia is planning an offensive with 175,000 troops in conflict with Ukraine. The Washington Post reports. Half the soldiers are said to have already been shifted to the border.

According to a Washington Post report, the Kremlin’s plan for an attack on Ukraine looks like this: 100 tactical battalions, including tanks, artillery and equipment, up to 175,000 soldiers. The newspaper refers, among other things, to a US intelligence report that it has.

Accompanying satellite images show Russia gathering troops and equipment at four locations near the border with Ukraine. 50 tactical battalions with around 70,000 soldiers have already been transferred. According to the newspaper report, the Russian armed forces are currently gathering at four points. Towards the border and away activities are intended to obscure the strategic outlook and provoke uncertainty.

US intelligence agencies “deeply concerned”

By early next year, Moscow wanted to be prepared for a possible offensive that could come from multiple sides. The US Secret Service was “deeply concerned about indications that Russia plans to take aggressive actions against Ukraine”. “Washington supports a further reduction of tensions in the region and a diplomatic resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Tony Semmelroth said.

US President Joe Biden has warned his counterpart Vladimir Putin amid increasing military deployment and increasing ceasefire rhetoric from the Kremlin. Biden said he was in the process of creating “a series of most comprehensive and important initiatives, which are very difficult for Mr Putin to make”.

Ukraine fears attack “at the end of January”

The US government has been warning of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine for days and threatening sanctions. Moscow denied and accused NATO of escalating tensions in the region. Biden and Putin may try to defuse the situation directly next week. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, a video link is being prepared between the two presidents.

Ukraine fears a Russian attack in a few weeks. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksey Resnikov said on Friday, “The preparations are most likely to take place at the end of January.” The Ukrainian Secret Service is currently analyzing all possible scenarios.