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Six Russian landing ships (pictured above, landing ship Minsk near the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark en route to the North Sea) have sailed past Britain sparking speculation they are bound for an impending ‘full-scale invasion’ of Ukraine

  • Six Russian naval landing ships have sailed south past Britain from the Baltic Sea, possibly bound for Ukraine
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed over 100,000 troops, military hardware along Ukraine’s border
  • Ukraine intelligence assessment said Moscow had ‘nearly completed’ its build-up ahead of a possible invasion
  • Britain’s Ministry of Defence fears large-scale warfare engulfing cities and causing high civilian death tolls 
  • It comes after the White House warned on Tuesday that the situation in the region was ‘extremely dangerous’ 

Will Stewart and Lauren Lewis – Daily Mail Jan 19, 2022

Six Russian landing ships have sailed past Britain sparking speculation they are bound for an impending ‘full-scale invasion’ of Ukraine – as Kiev warns President Putin has ‘nearly completed’ the build-up of troops along the border.

Russia‘s Baltic Fleet vessels the Korolev, Minsk and Kaliningrad were today sailing south past the UK followed by Northern Fleet warships Olenegorsky Gornyak, Pyotr Morgunov, and Georgii Pobedonosets which passed the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark on Monday.

The ships, which can each carry up to 25 armoured personnel carriers, were deployed three days ago but it remains unclear if they are heading for Ukraine.

The region has been on a knife-edge since the end of last year when Moscow moved as many as 100,000 troops, as well as tanks and missiles, close to the border.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s latest intelligence assessment yesterday warned Russia had massed more than 127,000 troops along the border, together with a sea and air component that marked a ‘full strength’ force.

The assessment, seen by CNN, described the situation as ‘difficult’ and warned Russian President Vladimir Putin was ‘trying to split and weaken the European Union and NATO’ while also ‘limiting the capabilities of the United States… to ensure security on the European continent’.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today warned Russia could attack Ukraine on ‘very short notice’ during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the American embassy in Kiev.

He urged Putin to take ‘the path of diplomacy and dialogue to try to resolve differences there are peacefully’ hours after the Biden administration said it would provide an additional $200 million in defensive military aid to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

‘Clearly the preferable path, clearly the most responsible path and the one that we would prefer, but there is also the path if Russia chooses to renew aggression, of conflict, confrontation and consequences for Russia,’ Blinken said.

‘I strongly, strongly hope that we can keep this on a diplomatic and peaceful path, but ultimately, that’s going to be President Putin’s decision.’

The stark warning comes after two rounds of last ditch talks between the West and Russia failed to de-escalate the conflict which has threatened to bubble over since late last year.

The Russian ships’ ‘highly irregular’ movements sparked Swedish authorities to deploy hundreds of troops and armoured vehicles to the island of Gotland.

Click to enlarge

 

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