Russia has made significant military movements near its border with Ukraine in recent days, prompting serious concerns by the U.S. and its NATO allies. The increase in Russian forces near the Ukrainian border is the largest since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory in 2014 and seized Crimea and introduced military assets in eastern Ukraine to undermine their government. According to the linked report:
"In recent weeks, Russia has increased its military presence along the Ukrainian border, sparking concerns in the West of a budding military conflict between the two neighboring countries. The Russian Defense Ministry has said it is conducting more than 4,000 military drills this month to inspect its forces readiness. [snip]
Last month, the Ukrainian government said four of its soldiers were killed by Russian shelling in Donbass. Moscow has denied it has forces in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv has been battling Russian-backed separatists in a conflict that has left at least 13,000 people dead since 2014, according to U.N. figures."
With Russian thug Vladimir Putin's sycophant / asset Donald "Tovarich" Trump out of office, tightened economic and financial sanctions, and international pressure increasing on Russia's brutal treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the Putin regime is likely feeling more boxed in than ever before. The effects of the pandemic and the sanctions have taken a toll on the two dimensional Russian economy, and some military posturing by Putin against the U.S., Ukraine and its allies is good for domestic consumption as a distraction.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed his call for NATO to accelerate it's consideration of admitting Ukraine to the alliance, which would give Ukraine the military backing of the Western alliance and perhaps give Russia pause. It's also reported that the U.S. is considering deploying warships to the Black Sea as a show of support for Ukraine.
