Russia is reportedly planning a possible military invasion of Ukraine involving an estimated 175,000 troops that could begin as soon as early 2022.
An unclassified intelligence document, obtained by The Washington Post, showed satellite images of troop and equipment build-up around the border with Ukraine.
Photos taken in June around Yelnya, near the northern border between Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, showed empty land. By November 9, five Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) were in place, the photos showed.
In 2014, similar scenes were replicated along the Russian-Ukrainian border near Crimea before Russia seized the strategic port on the Black Sea.
‘The Russian plans call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon as early 2022 with a scale of forces twice what we saw this past spring during Russia’s snap exercise near Ukraine’s borders,’ an administration official told the paper.