relevant committees dealing with ukraine but this is really a sign of the escalating tensions there and yet another sign of the fact that as lawmakers have been dealing with the domestic agenda in congress, they are going to have to turn their focus to foreign affairs in the next several weeks. when lawmakers return next week, we expect that there could be all member briefings. both majority leader chuck schumer and house speaker nancy pelosi have asked for those briefings. we still don t have a timing update on when they would be held but we expect they will be held when lawmakers return from their recess. jim and biana? lauren fox on the hill. thank you so much. speak more with retired lieutenant general mark kurtling, former commanding general of u.s. army europe and seventh army, always good to have you on. great to be with you and biana. you see these moves the u.s. putting on alert really stand by for deployment.
organizer of this plot is somebody who has in their words strong links to russian-backed rebels. he s said to have been a member of the bostok ballotion, the eastern battalion set up in 2014 to battle government forces in the dombas area of eastern ukraine so he s known to the authorities. it s not conclusive never-before-seen, of course, the authorities here say they are searching and interrogating and looking for evidence that would firmly link this to russia but it does fit with the idea that russia behind the scenes is trying to destabilize this country. right, right, it certainly does, and as we all know they would, of course, they would prefer to do it without having to go to full war, if they could so it certainly fits with what we understand. thank you very much. that report from kyiv. i wanting to to mark hertling, former commanding army general in the seventh army and steve hall, the former cia chief of
when they ll be able to return home. the pentagon is calling this mission temporary. it s not ruling out they might send even more troops. 8,500 of them. aside from the 3,000 on heightened alert there. at the ready. for any order from the president and the pentagon. joining me now. lieutenant general. the former commanding general of u.s. army europe. and the seventh army and cnn military analyst. a man who knows this potential battlefield well, you have the u.s. saying the russian president has got 70% of assets he ll need in place for invasion. you commanded forces in europe. you know the landscape. what s your assessment of the assets and capabilities? i have heard that figure of 70%. because i m not privy to the classified information, i don t know exactly what it means. i don t know if it means they
i really appreciate your time. also the seventh army. let me ask you about what kirby said. talking about putin s build-up again, saying over the past 24 to 48 hours, they re seeing more and more troopses. he says putin continues to add to his readyness. the social media videos coming out of russia. we should emphasize, this is what they want us to see. russian tanks 10 miles from the border, also near border, so what does all this tell you? does it strain credulity to you that this is all for naught? it depends what you re talking about. right notice or what the original plan was. this all started several months ago. i think we need to give a little history of this. the forces amassing right now on ukraine s border include some of putin s most modern units.
for the coming days, they re waiting to see russia s next moves. pamela. thank so much, now we have new video to share from the rebel-controlled east ukrainian city of donetsk, reporters capturing the scene as hundreds of residents continue to flee, following the order to evacuate. on friday, separatists authoriti authorities announces plans to evacuate around 700,000 people due to fears of imminent attack. joining me with more, retired army lieutenant, cnn military analyst and former commander general of europe and the seventh army, also with us cnn global affairs analyst and time magazine contributor, great to see you both, first, john start with you, the images we re seeing of russian troop movements. what does this tell you? well, there s still images, pamela, and that s combined with probably some moving images as well that are taken from some of