Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have hit an all-time high

Thousands of Russian troops, armour, and artillery have begun marching to Ukraine’s borders amid suspicions that it is preparing for an invasion. The military build-up has alarmed western countries, with the US putting roughly 8,500 troops on notice and NATO sending in reinforcements and putting forces on standby.

According to media sources, the expansion, which has been seen in neighboring Crimea and Belarus, a key Russian ally, involves not only personnel but also a large cache of arms, armour, and artillery, many of which were carried by train from faraway sites.

According to AFP, President Vladimir Putin’s government has deployed a massive force of more than 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border and in Crimea, a Ukrainian area that Russia invaded in 2014. When Russia annexed Crimea, it backed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, which took control of vast swaths of the country.

In Novoozernoye, Crimea, new housing areas for deployed troops and military equipment have opened up. Satellite photographs of the area show infantry fighting vehicles, tents for soldiers, and armoured vehicles.

Satellite photographs show fighting formations in various training grounds, artillery conducting live fire training, armoured personnel carriers and trucks, storage facilities, and artillery impact craters in western Russia, near the border with Belarus and Ukraine.

Three US officials told Reuters that the military buildup near Ukraine has expanded to include blood and other medical supplies that would allow Russia to treat casualties, signaling yet another sign of Moscow’s military readiness.

Russian officials have denied any plans to invade on several occasions. However, according to Reuters, Moscow sees Kyiv’s developing connections with the West as a threat.

According to documents revealed by El Pais on Wednesday, Washington and its NATO allies have offered Moscow armaments limitation and trust-building measures to defuse the possibility of a fresh Russian invasion against Ukraine. The Kremlin has demanded that NATO guarantee that Kyiv will never be admitted to the alliance and that NATO forces withdraw from eastern member states that were Soviet allies or republics during the Cold War.

As Western nations escalated their high-stakes diplomatic campaign to avert an open confrontation in Europe, Russia and the United States clashed Monday at the United Nations Security Council over Moscow’s army deployment on the Ukrainian border. However, in response to the army buildup, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged the West to refrain from inciting “panic.”