US Intel Leaks Looming Russia Attack of Ukraine - But It Could Be Misinformation

Two US officials and another source familiar with US intelligence claim that the US possesses evidence showing that instructions have been conveyed to Russian commanders to proceed with an assault on Ukraine.

The intelligence about the directive to tactical commanders and intelligence agents is one of several signs the US is keeping an eye on to see whether Russian invasion preparations are nearing completion.

Russian Military Given Order To Proceed With Ukraine Invasion

According to the report, further symptoms like electronic jamming and extensive cyberattacks have yet to be seen. The sources warned that instructions might be revoked at any time or that the information could be false to confuse and mislead the US and its allies.

However, the intelligence comes after Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared on Friday that they believe Putin has "taken the decision" to invade, a sentiment shared by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. The Russian playbook, according to Blinken, is "going forward."

On Sunday, Biden met with his senior aides on the National Security Council to examine the situation in Ukraine, including Blinken, Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who were all in Europe over the weekend discussing the problem with friends, as per CNN.

New Intelligence Prompts Biden Warning on Russian Attack

The significant escalation of ceasefire breaches in eastern Ukraine in recent days, which Ukraine has blamed on Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine's Donbas area, has added to suspicions that Russia is contemplating a large-scale offensive. Russia, for its part, has alleged that Ukraine is planning a large-scale operation in Donbas, which would need a stronger pro-Russian military presence.

The latest escalation in eastern Ukraine, Blinken said at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, "is part of a paradigm that is already in the play of making false provocations, then having to respond to those provocations, and then eventually committing additional aggression against Ukraine."

Biden's trip to Wilmington, where he'll spend the President's Day vacation, was unexpectedly disclosed by the White House earlier Sunday. According to a White House official, the trip was unexpectedly canceled on Sunday afternoon when the President was on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron for a 15-minute chat, according to WishTV.

As the world saw the Russian military execute moves that American espionage agencies had foreseen, the administration's faith in intelligence has only risen. Nonetheless, a Kremlin source stressed that the Kremlin has devised various war scenarios and that it is still unclear how an attack on Ukraine would play out, particularly how swiftly Russian soldiers would march on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.

Biden's announcement, as well as the fresh explanation of what he was based on, are the latest salvos in the administration's attempt to use declassified intelligence to expose and undermine the Kremlin's intentions, perhaps delaying an invasion and allowing more time for negotiation.

However, American military and intelligence assets have confirmed that they have seen Russian military personnel preparing to launch an attack. According to recent data, 40 to 50 percent of the more than 150,000 Russian soldiers encircling Ukraine have moved out of staging and into battle formation, indicating that a full-scale invasion might take place within days, according to US officials. Officials say some of the personnel are Russian reservists who would serve as an occupying force in the event of an invasion.

Russia's military drills in Belarus were extended on Sunday, as European intelligence authorities had feared. According to American intelligence authorities, Russia continued to build up its soldiers in Belarus last week, according to the White House.

A Belarusian attack is a possibility that US officials have been warning against for weeks. They emphasized on Friday that the Ukraine-Belarus border is significantly less well-protected than the border in Ukraine's far east, near Russia and separatist-controlled sections of the Donbas. A quicker route from Belarus to Kyiv is also available, New York Times reported.