A service member of the Ukrainian armed forces is seen at combat positions near the line of separation from Russian-backed rebels near Horlivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, January 20. REUTERS/A
Satellite images dated January 19 show a battlegroup deployed at Voronezh base around 200 miles from the Ukraine border with rows of tank artillery and support equipment massed there.
The head of the CIA visited Europe ahead of Blinken s trip this week as Washington tries to rally allies against Moscow if Vladimir Putin presses ahead with plans to invade Ukraine.
Antony Blinken today warned that Russia could launch an invasion of the Ukraine on very short notice after arriving at the US embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The Ukraine-Russian border region has been on a knife-edge since the end of last year when Moscow moved as many as 100,000 troops, as well as tanks and missiles, close to the border.