NATO Commander Says Russia Poised To Invade Ukraine
NATO’s top commander says Russia has 40,000 troops on the Ukraine boarder, could invade any time, and accomplish its objectives in 3-5 days.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Monday that the Kremlin was beginning to withdraw troops from the border area near Ukraine.
But the NATO commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said in an interview with The New York Times that so far only a single battalion, a force of 400 to 500 troops, is on the move and that NATO intelligence could not say whether it was actually being withdrawn.
“What we can say now is that we do see a battalion size unit moving, but what we can’t confirm is that it is leaving the battlefield,” General Breedlove, of the United States Air Force, said. “Whether that movement is aft to a less belligerent configuration or returning to barracks, we do not see that.”
General Breedlove said that the Russian force that remains is a potent mix of warplanes, helicopter units, artillery, infantry and commandos with field hospitals and sufficient logistics to sustain an incursion into Ukraine.
