A new U.S. announcement of “significant military capacity” on the Ukrainian border has confirmed many ongoing fears of Russia’s intentions with the country. “It’s not something that has happened in the last week or two,” the U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine shared. “This is something that has happened over a period of years. Russia invaded Ukraine, it took Crimea, it is occupying the Donbas, and it has, within Russia, built up significant military capacity and also in Crimea built up significant military capacity over time.” Since the Kerch Straight incident in November in which Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels, the West has been on heightened alert across the region. It’s pretty obvious what Putin is doing,” said the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee for Europe. “Now the next step for Putin is, let’s start choking off maritime activity to those Ukrainian ports to dramatically harm and effect the economy in those two port cities, which could potentially set up the next step of the land bridge from Russia into Crimea.” Opposing the growing force on its border however, is a Ukrainian force that has received support from NATO. This force has stressed mobility, anti-armor capabilities, and communications, growing into a force that could potentially defend against Russian aggression until foreign support arrived.
Source: US confirms Russia has ‘significant military capacity’ along Ukraine’s borders
