Washington Post: US intelligence considers Russia's announcement of the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine a trick
Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / RIA Novosti
The US has received intelligence that Russia's announced troop withdrawal from the border with Ukraine was a deliberate ploy to mislead the United States and other world powers. The Washington Post writes about this, citing four anonymous sources in the American and European government structures.
According to them, Washington considered that Russian statements about the return of troops from exercises to their places of permanent deployment “may be part of a disinformation campaign designed to mislead.”
On February 17, it was reported that the United States did not believe in the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine and set a new invasion date for February 20. The new dates for the start of the “Russian-Ukrainian war” were named by the American publication Politico, citing analysts. The publication is confident that the previously announced date of February 16 “diverted attention” from more important time frames. Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian armed forces, pointed out that it is the actions of the Russian troops after the end of the joint exercises with Belarus on February 20 that will help to understand the true intentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
