New York Times: Putin’s ‘next number’ could be predicted… Propaganda, clash preparation, deception?
Russia’s foreign ministry denies the withdrawal rumors… “Operating as usual”
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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hyungyeong = With the observation that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is imminent, it is known that Russia has recently begun withdrawing its personnel from its embassy in Ukraine, and speculation over its implications is divided, The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 17th. did.
On the 5th, one week before Russia held intensive talks with the West, including the United States and NATO, to resolve the Ukraine crisis, a Russian diplomat and 18 members of their families at the Russian Embassy in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, took a bus bound for Moscow. , said a senior Ukrainian security official.
Over the next few days, about 30 people withdrew from Russian consulates in Kiev and western Ukraine and left for Moscow, and diplomats at two other Russian consulates were also informed to prepare to leave, the official, who requested anonymity, added.
The New York Times pointed out that how to interpret such a withdrawal could be a clue to solving the riddle of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ‘prediction of the next move’.
Ukrainian and U.S. government officials believe that Russia’s withdrawal of the Ukrainian embassy could be propaganda on the one hand, or a preparation for an impending clash. It also recognizes that in some ways it could be cheating.
The New York Times reported that “Russia, which knows that the US and Ukraine will be watching closely, has been slowly emptying its embassy in recent days, becoming part of the ‘puzzle’ of what happens next.”
The NYT went on to describe this as “a more ominous metric”, in addition to the widespread cyberattack on Ukrainian government agencies last week and the massive discovery of another malware awaiting execution order in Ukraine.
The New York Times also said that one of Russia’s goals through withdrawal from the Ukrainian diplomatic mission was Russia’s demand that Ukraine never join NATO and that Western troops and nuclear weapons should be removed from countries such as Poland, which were once Soviet allies. It was assumed that it could be something that the West would take seriously.
Also suggesting an impending attack on Ukraine could be another target, the New York Times noted.
Currently, Russia has deployed 60 artillery battalions and approximately 77,000 troops in the border region of Ukraine, which is far short of the 175,000 men predicted by the US Department of Defense a month ago. In this regard, US and European intelligence agencies are of the opinion that Putin is waiting for the ground to freeze to facilitate the movement of heavy equipment.
On the other hand, there is also the view that Putin is deliberately slowly increasing his military force to gain diplomatic gain, the New York Times added. It is waiting for the US government and NATO to provide a written response to Russia’s request to return NATO’s military deployment to the level it was 15 years ago in order to move NATO forces farther away from Russia’s borders.
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U.S. officials believe Putin has yet to decide what to do next, while Ukraine is assessing how an attack will unfold if a Russian invasion becomes a reality, the New York Times reported.
Ukrainian security officials anticipate that the Russian attack could become an all-out invasion and erupt in the form of escalating military tensions in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels are strong, and a cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid. .
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 18th that “the Russian embassy in Kiev is operating as usual” in relation to rumors of the evacuation of the diplomatic mission in Ukraine, Sputnik news agency reported on the 18th.
ykhyun14@yna.co.kr
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2022/01/18 16:22 Send
