On Monday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service denied accusations by Ukraine and the West that Moscow was planning an invasion of Ukraine, at a time when the US Bloomberg website mentioned sources that Washington provided intelligence information to countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) showing Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine.
"The Americans paint a frightening picture of the masses of Russian tanks that will begin to crush Ukrainian cities," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said in a rare statement reported by Russian news agencies, adding that Washington is sending its allies "completely false information about the concentration of forces on the territory of our country with the aim of invading Ukraine."
The same agency added that "the bureaucrats of the United States frighten the international community" with these accusations.
Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin (the Russian presidency) stated that the West was leading an "information campaign" in this regard aimed at "escalation of tension." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "Any movement of Russian forces inside our territory does not pose a threat to anyone, and should Don't worry anyone."
Anxiety and maps
Western countries had expressed concern this month following reports of Russian military activity near Ukraine, and the United States said it had "real concerns" about what it described as "unusual military activity".
And the Bloomberg website quoted informed sources today, Monday, that the United States has sent intelligence information to a number of NATO member states, showing crowds of Russian forces and Russian artillery on the border with Ukraine, in preparation for launching a large-scale and rapid military operation in several places in Ukraine, if the President decides. Russian Vladimir Putin invaded his neighbor.
Over the weekend, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Kirilu Budanov, told Military Times that Russia had a buildup of more than 92,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and was preparing for an offensive by the end of January or early February.
The Ukrainian official explained that such a Russian attack is likely to include air strikes, artillery and armored vehicle attacks, followed by airborne attacks in eastern Ukraine, amphibious attacks in the Odessa and Mariupol regions of southern Ukraine, and a limited incursion through neighboring Belarus.
recrimination
In a related context, the Russian President said in a telephone conversation today, Monday, with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, that the Kiev authorities are in the process of escalation in eastern Ukraine.
A Kremlin statement said that Putin discussed with Draghi "the provocative steps taken by the Ukrainian side to deliberately escalate the situation in the Donbass region, including the use of prohibited weapons," accusing Moscow of supporting separatist militants in Donbass, eastern Ukraine.
In response to the Russian accusations, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Moscow's talk about Kiev planning to carry out a "military attack" in the separatist region in the east of the country is false information.
The Ukrainian minister warned of the "escalating Russian misinformation" and stressed that his country is working hard to revive peace talks between it and the separatist militants in the east of the country, with the mediation of France and Germany.
The Ukrainian army has been fighting battles since 2014 against pro-Moscow separatists in two regions on Russia's borders, after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.
Relations between Kiev and Moscow have been experiencing escalating tension for nearly 7 years, due to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists loyal to it in the Donbass region.