Moscow Bolsters Weaponry Near Ukraine --- Tanks, missile launchers, other materiel heads west from bases in Russia's Far East

"WASHINGTON -- As diplomats were holding negotiations over the Ukraine crisis this week, Russia began moving tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, rocket launchers and other military equipment westward from their bases in its Far East, according to U.S. officials and social-media reports.

While the equipment is still in transit, officials and analysts are debating whether it represents the next phase in the Kremlin's buildup that has already placed more than 100,000 troops near its country's border with Ukraine.

"This stuff is almost certainly going to Ukraine," said Rob Lee, an expert on the Russian military and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a U.S. think tank. The military hardware, he said, is believed to be the first to be shifted in the current crisis from Russia's Eastern Military District, on the opposite end of the country.

Some other officials and analysts suspect, however, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the military movements to keep the West guessing about what he will do next, while boosting negotiating leverage.

If deployed near Ukraine, the officials and analysts said, the new materiel would reinforce the Kremlin's options to use force to try to weaken the pro-Western government in Kyiv, increase Russia's control in eastern Ukraine, batter the country's economy and prevent it from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Russia's defense ministry said Friday that troops of the Eastern Military District had started "a sudden check of combat readiness" as part of regularly scheduled drills.

Some of the training was to ensure that the troops could carry out tasks after "regrouping over long distances" across Russia, the ministry said, adding that the combat drills would include firing live ammunition.

Mr. Putin has surprised Western nations by massing forces near Ukraine and then presenting NATO with a proposed agreement that would halt the alliance's eastern expansion and require that U.S. and allied troops leave NATO's East and Central European members, which were formerly part of the Soviet Union or Soviet bloc.

Negotiations this week between Russia, the U.S., NATO and others failed to narrow the differences over that Kremlin proposal, as well as a demand that the alliance cut military ties to Ukraine and other areas of the former Soviet Union.

The U.S. and its allies have said they would respond to an invasion with unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia, stepped-up support for Ukraine's defense and military reinforcements on NATO's eastern flank, closest to Russia.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who led the U.S. delegation in negotiations with Russia this week, said following talks on Wednesday that Russia faced the choice whether to engage in further diplomacy or take military action against Ukraine. "And they may not even know yet," she added.

Russia's massing of forces near Ukraine, where more than 100,000 troops are in place, continues, U.S. officials said. Those forces, they said, include combat-ready units equipped with sophisticated tanks, helicopters, short-range missile systems and electronic-warfare equipment.

"That rough 100,000-troop figure could easily be augmented in a matter of a couple of weeks and evolve into something that's large enough to launch a multipronged, full-throttle invasion of Ukraine," said a senior State Department official, who declined to provide details. "It could be used as part of a coercive diplomatic game."

The Conflict Intelligence Team, a group of Russian bloggers, posted photos of flatbed railcars carrying tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, trucks and mobile rocket systems.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the social-media reports. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that two-thirds of Russian forces were out of their garrisons.

Russian officials have said they don't plan to invade Ukraine, but Mr. Putin has said that he is ready to carry out "military technical measures" if the West continues its "aggressive line."" [1]

1.  World News: Moscow Bolsters Weaponry Near Ukraine --- Tanks, missile launchers, other materiel heads west from bases in Russia's Far East
Strobel, Warren P; Gordon, Michael R; Youssef, Nancy A. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 15 Jan 2022: A.7.