Special forces monitor Putin Ukraine threat
US and UK monitor Russian moves
US WARSHIPS are heading to the Black Sea amid Russian warnings of “full scale combat operations” over the Ukraine border.
British and American special forces, plus regular signals troops, are helping Ukraine monitor the huge military build-up.
It has also been reported a British RAF spy plane has been monitoring Moscow’s troop movements for early warnings of an invasion force.
Close to 100,000 Russian troops are either amassed at the border or on the way to the front as tens of thousands of Ukrainian regulars and reservists were called up.
Yesterday, Britain and the US warned they “firmly opposed” Russia’s campaign to destabilize Ukraine, according to a tweet from UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
Raab said US secretary of state Antony Blinken had “agreed Russia must immediately de-escalate the situation”.
It comes amid fears of all-out war across the 1500-mile long border as 10 of Moscow’s warships are expected to arrive in the Black Sea this week.
The US destroyers USS Donald Cook and USS Roosevelt are in the region in a bid to help Ukraine against a sea-assault.
A team of British special forces has deployed to the flashpoint region along with specialist communications troops from a UK Royal Signals detachment.
Crucially, Ukraine and its US and UK allies are trying to track down GRU Russian intelligence operatives working in east Ukraine.
The GRU has been stirring up support for Russia deep in Ukraine in preparation for a further incursion over the disputed border between the two countries.
British and American assessments of the Russian military build-up have logged the situation as reaching “crisis point”.
It had been thought within Ukrainian military circles that Russia would not be poised to attack until about mid-May.
But that assessment appears to have been refreshed to suggest a Russian assault could be launched “within days.”
As many as 14,000 people have been killed in fighting between troops and separatist rebels in east Ukraine since Russia’s 2014 Crimea annexation.
A senior UK military source said: “The team is there to listen and collate information, nothing more.
“The Russians have intercepted UAV operations with counter measures, attempted network attacks and appear to be behind increased ceasefire violations.
“The picture across the region is very chaotic and confused by propaganda generated by the Russians.”