The situation is heating up: Russia is taking out its diplomats from Ukraine and sending troops to Belarus, the US Secretary of State is urgently going to Kiev

Russia has removed nearly 50 people from its consulates in Kiev and Lvov, according to a senior Ukrainian security official. According to him, diplomats from two more Russian consulates in Ukraine are also preparing to leave. Kommersant.

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On January 5, 18 people left Ukraine, "mostly the children and wives of Russian diplomats." After that, about 30 more people left Kiev and Lvov. How many more people the Russian side plans to take out is not specified. Note that Russia also has consulates in Odessa and Kharkov. Nothing is reported about them.

The US administration said they knew about the impending evacuation.

“We have information indicating that the Russian government was preparing to evacuate members of diplomatic families from the Russian embassy in Ukraine in late December and early January,” an unnamed US official said.

“The Russian Embassy in Kyiv is operating as normal,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported that it had not received information about the departure of the Russians.

US authorities believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has not yet decided to invade" Ukraine. The evacuation may indicate "an impending attack", although "there were no other signals about this." The build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine is not going as fast as the Pentagon predicted a month ago.

However, the Ukrainian authorities fear that Russian troops deployed to Belarus for exercises “will remain there indefinitely, leaving Ukraine open to attack from the north, east and south.”

“We will be completely surrounded by equal forces,” said a senior Ukrainian official.

American intelligence said that the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine increases as the weather gets colder. According to foreign media, Western countries expect Russia to attack Ukraine in early 2022. The Kremlin called such statements unfounded. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States spread these rumors in order to have a pretext for the attack itself. In Washington, they said that they had developed 18 scenarios in case tensions around Ukraine escalated. US senators have also drafted a new anti-Russian sanctions bill that proposes restrictions on Vladimir Putin and several major Russian banks.

Russia and Belarus to hold exercises to repel external aggression

Moscow and Minsk will rehearse against external aggression by holding joint military exercises in Belarus in February, the Russian and Belarusian military said amid heightened tensions with the West over Ukraine. reports the BBC.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko agreed on the exercises back in December.

Russian military and equipment began to arrive in Belarus on January 17 to participate in the verification of the two countries' response forces, which should pass near the western border with Poland and Lithuania, as well as near the southern border with Ukraine.

On the subject: US intelligence says Russia is preparing provocations in Donbas to start a war with Ukraine

The West has recently been expressing fears about a possible invasion of Ukraine by tens of thousands of Russian troops concentrated near the border. Russia denies such plans.

The purpose of the exercise will be “to practice the tasks of suppressing and repelling external aggression during a defensive operation, countering terrorism and protecting the interests of the union state,” as Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters.

Fomin said that the exercises will be held in two stages and will end on February 20. 12 Su-35 aircraft, two divisions of S-400 air defense systems and a division of Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun systems will be redeployed to the territory of Belarus from Russia.

He said that the first stage of verification is until February 9. For this period, it is planned to redeploy and create in a short time groupings of troops in “threatened areas”, organize the protection of “important state and military facilities”, and protect the border in the airspace.

“Also part of the inspection is the functioning of the unified air defense system,” Fomin added. -For this purpose the Su-35, S-400 and Pantsir-S will be used.

At the second stage of verification, the joint exercise “Allied Resolve 10” will be held on February 20-2022.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said that at the first stage of the exercises, both sides will practice the deployment of troops, the defense of military facilities and the assessment of air defense capabilities. At the second stage, they will work on “the destruction of illegal armed groups and sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the enemy.” Five training grounds and four airfields will be involved in joint exercises, the Belarusian military department specified.

“A situation may arise when the forces and means of the regional group will not be enough to guarantee the security of the union state,” Fomin explained the need for the exercises. “The full potential will need to be brought to bear for overall protection.”

He recalled that Presidents Putin and Lukashenko agreed to conduct the exercises on December 29 at a meeting in St. Petersburg.

“We will conduct it at the beginning of the year, the military will agree there, in March, February, I don’t know when they will decide,” Putin said then.

Against the backdrop of exacerbation

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said on January 17 that the exercises were being held against the background of “the aggravation of the military-political situation in the world” and the “continuing increase in tension in Europe.”

Western countries suspect Moscow of preparing an invasion of Ukraine or its imitation. The Russian authorities categorically deny this and demand documented guarantees that NATO will not expand further east to include Ukraine.

Gone last week three rounds of talks between Russian representatives with the United States, NATO and the OSCEwhich did not lead to tangible results. Russian markets have been falling since the end of last week amid the aggravation of the geopolitical situation.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to arrive in Ukraine

It became known that Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on January 19.

The agenda is still unknown, but it is not difficult to assume that first of all, the issues of security of Ukraine in connection with the concentration of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, deterrence measures, the provision of additional assistance and weapons, as well as possible sanctions in the event of a massive invasion of the Russian Federation, will be discussed. reports ZN.UA.

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On January 18, the Kommersant newspaper reported that a “contact” between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would take place in the near future.

“The contact is being worked out,” the Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax. “In the near future,” the agency’s interlocutor clarified.

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