US warns of possibility of Russia sending troops into Ukraine in just 1 month
The White House announced on January 14, 2022 (US time) that US intelligence agencies specializing in monitoring Russian cyber operations related to Ukraine believe this is a sign of the possibility of Russian military intervention on the ground in Russia within the next 30 days.
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| Trenches in eastern Ukraine. Photo: Rluk |
US officials have declined to say whether the US would arm Ukrainian militias to counter such an invasion, but they are now sending signals to Russia that they are considering the possibility.
The United States has pledged to respond to a military invasion with unprecedented economic sanctions targeting members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. But that option could trigger retaliatory moves from Moscow, such as cutting off energy flows from Russia to EU countries.
A US official and a former US official confirmed to NBC (USA) late on January 14 that the Biden administration is considering arming Ukrainian militias - who will conduct guerrilla warfare in case Russian troops enter Ukraine.
Also on January 14, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that US defense analysts had detected a sharp increase in destabilizing social media activity targeting the Ukrainian government.
Ms. Psaki said that the Russian military often plans to do the above before launching a military invasion, which could begin between mid-January and mid-February 2022.
The revelations came just hours after hackers disabled key Ukrainian government websites and posted threatening messages on them.
Press Secretary Psaki also cited information from US intelligence that Russia staged fake attacks on pro-Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine to create a pretext for intervention./.
