Updated December 13th, 2021 at 16:28 IST
Russia appears to edge closer to war against Ukraine as troop buildup continues: Report
Despite the US’ Biden warning Russia’s Putin over Moscow’s invasion into Ukraine, a flatbed rail wagon reportedly sped through southwest Russia last week
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Despite US President Joe Biden warning Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the most recent video conference over Moscow’s invasion into Ukraine, a flatbed rail wagon reportedly sped through south-west Russia last week indicating a larger war with Ukraine. As per The Guardian report, onboard the flatbed wagon was a Buk-M1, which is the same medium-range surface-to-air missile system that became infamous in 2014 after a missile was fired from the region controlled by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine and downed a Malaysian airliner killing all 298 people on board.
The media outlet noted that if Russia plans on waging a war against Ukraine, it still needs to take a range of steps including the establishment of fuel supply chains, opening field hospitals and also developing air-defence systems such as the Buk. Even though Biden and Putin were sitting down to talks meant the end of the crisis prevailing at the Russia-Ukraine border, Moscow reportedly appeared to be inching close to being ready to launch a full-scale ground invasion of its neighbour.
On 9 December, Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an online research group, stated that “These data allow us to conclude that despite the negotiations between Biden and Putin, the concentration of Russian troops in the areas bordering the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities continues.” CIT made the conclusion based on social media, railway schedules along other such data to reveal the details of Russian troop buildup on the border.
Today, our colleague @galandecZP posted two videos recently filmed at Maslovka railway station near Voronezh. The videos show Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, T-80U tanks and apparently a Buk anti-air missile system (at least a dozen launchers and a radar vehicle are visible).
— CIT (en) (@CITeam_en) December 8, 2021
1/ https://t.co/27RYHd5Vzz pic.twitter.com/AiHvG3c5yY
Putin might still decide to not launch an invasion
As per the media outlet, the Russian President might still decide not to launch an invasion as he can use the military buildup as leverage for negotiations, But, reportedly Russian and western analysts are predicting that increasing troop presence, which is the second time this year, portends a series of future crisis over Ukraine as Putin seeks to reverse its trajectory towards the western nations.
The Guardian quoted Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the political analysis firm R.Politik, as saying, “Even if Putin gets something from the west, serious talks or discussions about guarantees – will that be enough for Putin?... We are witnessing the dawn of new geopolitical adventurism from Russia.” It is pertinent to note that despite Biden-Putin talks, the crisis has grown deeper when it comes to Ukraine.
(IMAGE: AP)
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Published December 13th, 2021 at 16:28 IST
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