The U.S. has shared intelligence, including maps with European allies, depicting a buildup of Russian troops and artillery to prepare for a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade, Bloomberg reports.
According to the data provided by American intelligence, there is a scenario that would have the troops crossing into Ukraine from Crimea, the Russian border and via Belarus, with about 100 battalion tactical groups -- potentially around 100,000 soldiers -- deployed for what the people described as an operation in rough terrain and freezing conditions, covering extensive territory and prepared for a potentially prolonged occupation.
Two agents said about half that number of tactical groups was already in position and that any invasion would be backed up by air support.
" Moscow had also called up tens of thousands of reservists on a scale unprecedented in post-Soviet times. They explained the role of reservists in any conflict would be to secure territory in a later phase after the tactical battalions paved the way. Russia hasn’t publicly announced any major call-up of reservists," the message reads.
Another agent also said that the United States had shared information about an exponential rise in disinformation targeting Kyiv, with Moscow recruiting agents and trying to sow destabilization inside Ukraine.
American intelligence notes that Putin takes this war seriously.