THE EYES of the world are on Ukraine as Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and troops are currently massed on the border.
It is feared Vladimir Putin could launch a full scale invasion in a matter of weeks (as of January 23, 2022) – or even days – to seize territory given up by Russia in the fall of the Soviet Union.
Will Russia invade Ukraine?
Russia says it has no plans to attack Ukraine, and, in December 2021, armed forces chief Valery Gerasimov even denounced reports of an impending invasion as a lie.
He said that more than 95 per cent of Moscow's ground-based strategic nuclear forces are "kept in constant readiness for combat use".
However, the US says Russia has offered no explanation for the troops posted close to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK said the risk of invasion is "extremely likely".
On January 23, 2022, Vadym Prystaiko told LBC: "We believe that the risk is extremely high."
He added that 100,000 troops are currently "not enough" but Putin is "gradually building up" with the helicopters and S-400 systems.
House of Commons Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood MP also described the potential invasion as "inevitable and imminent" after Kiev blamed Russia for a massive cyber attack earlier in January.
The attack left much of the country without heat, light and access to cash, which is feared to act as a prelude to an invasion.
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Mr Ellwood wrote on Twitter: "RUSSIA is on the brink of an invasion. And once again will try to re-draw the map of Eastern Europe. History will ask – why did we not learn from history?"
Putin is believed to want to reclaim many territories lost at the fall of the Soviet Union.
He first made inroads into Ukraine back in 2014 when Russian troops illegally annexed the Crimea peninsula – sparking international condemnation.
Conflict has raged in Eastern Ukraine ever since as Putin backed-rebels fight against the government in the disputed Donbas region.
Due to the mounting war fears, Britain and the US have begun withdrawing some staff and their families from Ukraine since January 24, 2022.
The UK Foreign Office said it was pulling some diplomats from its embassy in Kiev "in response to growing threat from Russia".
Around half of staff are expected to leave with their families, reports the BBC.
What has happened between Russia and Ukraine?
2014
In February, 77 protesters were killed by security forces in Kyiv.
President Yanukovych fled to Russia and the opposition took over.
In March, Russian forces took over Crimea – causing the biggest East vs West showdown since the Cold War.
As a result Russia was hit by harsh sanctions.
In April, pro-Russian armed groups seized parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Russian border.
In July, 298 people were killed when pro-Russian forces shot down a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine conflict zone.
In September, Nato confirmed that Russian troops had entered eastern Ukraine with heavy military equipment.
2015
In February a ceasefire was announced when Germany and France brokered a new Donbass deal at talks in Belarus.
2018
In May, President Putin officially announced he was opening a bridge linking Russia to Crimea.
Ukraine called these actions illegal.
2019
Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners who were captured in the wake of Moscow's seizure of Crimea and intervention in the Donbass.
2021
Putin moved tens of thousands of troops and heavy military equipment to the border with Ukraine.
The latest on-the-ground videos appear to show heavy armaments on the move in Krasnodar region and naval vessels on the Don River as the Ukraine crisis becomes increasingly hostile.
Russia is also known to be moving landing ships from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea for the first time since the end of the Soviet era.
New footage shows Russia’s Black Sea fleet on the move – while Ukraine also conducted military exercises off Crimea.
A veteran independent Russian defence analyst has claimed Putin may have ordered the mobilisation of "more than half a million" troops – involving forces from the Pacific to the Baltic.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has called for membership of Nato in quick time to protect it from Russian bullying.
Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Nato was planning to station 40,000 troops and 15,000 pieces of military equipment in the region – which NATO vehemently denies – and Russia is simply responding.
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