Russia holds sniper drills and 'sends two short-range ballistic missile systems to the Ukrainian border' amid warnings that war is 'imminent'
Russia has held sniper drills and reportedly sent two short-range ballistic missile systems to the Ukrainian border amid warnings that a war between the two nations is 'imminent'.
Video shows Putin's army carrying out shooting exercises in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine on Monday, with up to 100,000 stationed on the border.
Other footage shows the alleged transfer of two deadly mobile short-range ballistic missile systems 9K720 Iskander thousands of miles across Russia towards the conflict zone.
This comes amid warnings from the West that war is 'inevitable and imminent' while a leading Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets stressed that Putin has 'raised the game's stakes so much that bluffing is no longer an option'.
Russia has amassed tanks, artillery and tens of thousands of troops near the border of Ukraine and demanded guarantees that its neighbour will never join NATO.
Video shows Putin's army carrying out shooting exercises in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine on Monday
Video filmed in Sverdlovsk region on January 13, allegedly shows Iskanders relocating to the West
There are claims from Ukrainian military intelligence that leaking ammonia at a chemical plant in pro-Russian rebel-held Horlivka may be intended as a pretext to accuse Kyiv of a chemical weapons attack, and a trigger for invasion.
Ukraine's Defence ministry said in a statement: 'According to the military intelligence of Ukraine, on January 14, containers with ammonia were delivered to Horlivka, occupied by Russian troops, (specifically) to PJSC Stirol Concern'.
But there is a leak into the atmosphere, claimed the intelligence directorate of the ministry, saying it could cause an 'environmental disaster' in the east of Ukraine.
'The man-made disaster caused by the actions of the Russian occupation forces could be used to accuse Ukraine of using toxic chemicals and as a pretext for expanding armed aggression against our state,' said the military intelligence directorate.
The sniper drills involving 100 servicemen were held at Kadamovsky training ground, some 37 miles from the Ukraine border.
Special forces of the Western military district, which borders Ukraine, conducted drills using Arbalet-2 and Malva guided parachute systems in the Tambov region.
This follows live fire tank training at Mulino in Nizhny Novgorod region at a time when Putin is reported to have 100,000-plus troops and heavy military equipment close to the Russian border with Ukraine.
More than 300 servicemen were involved in these special tactical exercises.
Russian troops from the western military district in tank ambush drill
Russian troops from the western military district in tank ambush drills
Elsewhere in Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, crews of T-72B3 tanks were drilled in 'the skills of night driving combat vehicles in heavy snowfall and a blizzard at the Krinitsa training ground'.
Videos on TikTok analysed by Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), a Russian group monitoring military movements, are said to show Iskander missiles moving from Ulan-dUe in Siberia and Birobidzhan, a town in the Russian far east.
The team claims the equipment is moving west towards Ukraine. The Kremlin has denied the transportation of missiles.
Russia has repeatedly denied any intention of invading Ukraine, and insisted it has the right to move military equipment and troops on its own territory.
An exercise in moving military equipment from the east of Russia was announced last week.
Ukraine has said citing OSCE monitoring evidence that 99 Russian units of military equipment have been recorded in rebel-held Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
This included three multiple launch rocket systems.
Ballistic missile Iskander-M launch at Kapustin Yar landfill in Astrakhan region, pictured in 2019
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the weekend: 'There's a critical situation here. The critical situation is around the concerns, national concerns of Russia.'
He said 'no-one is threatening anyone with military actions' which would be 'madness', but added: 'We will be ready to take counteractions.'
Senior Russian and Western officials held three rounds of talks in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna this last week without achieving a breakthrough to quell the tensions.
By the end of the week, Washington warned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation within weeks to precipitate an invasion.
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday Washington would set out its next steps in the crisis after consulting with its partners in the coming days.
'But the key point here is that we're ready either way,' Sullivan told CBS.
'If Russia wants to move forward with diplomacy, we are absolutely ready to do that in lockstep with our allies and partners.
'If Russia wants to go down the path of invasion and escalation, we're ready for that too, with a robust response.'
Russian troops from the western military district in tank ambush drills
On Sunday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg again called on Russia to de-escalate, adding that 'we are ready to sit down and also listen to their concerns'.
Putin's spokesman Peskov said that there were 'some understandings between' Russia and the West.
'But in general, in principle, we can now say that we are staying on different tracks, on totally different tracks. And this is not good. This is disturbing,' he told CNN.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv and its Western partners were working on a broad 'package to contain Russia' that would include 'painful' new sanctions and moves to ramp up defence cooperation with the West.
'If Putin wants to know why neighbours are seeking to join NATO he only needs to look in the mirror,' he said in remarks released by the foreign ministry on Sunday.
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