US official: Russia adds 7K more troops near Ukraine border
Kyiv, Feb 17: Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity Wednesday, while the US warned that Russia had added as many as 7,000 troops near Ukraine's borders despite Kremlin declarations that forces were being pulled back from the region.
While a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine did not materialize as feared, the United States and its allies maintained that the threat is still strong, with Europe's security and economic stability in the balance.
Russia has massed more than 150,000 troops east, north and south of Ukraine, according to Western estimates. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled that he wants a peaceful path out of the crisis, and US President Joe Biden promised that the US would continue to give diplomacy "every chance," but he struck a sceptical tone about Moscow's intentions.
Biden also insisted that Washington and its allies would not "sacrifice basic principles" respecting Ukraine sovereignty.
Russian Defence Ministry video showed a trainload of armoured vehicles moving across a bridge away from Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It also announced that more tank units were being loaded on trains to move back to their permanent bases after training exercises.
But at the same time, Russia continued war games near Ukraine's borders and across its vast territory.
A senior US administration official said the West detected that Russia had increased its force near Ukraine by 7,000 troops, with some arriving as recently as Wednesday, and that there had been a marked increase in false claims by Russians that the Kremlin might use as pretext for an invasion.
The official said those claims included reports of unmarked graves of civilians allegedly killed by Ukrainian forces, statements that the US and Ukraine are developing biological or chemical weapons, and claims that the West is funnelling in guerrillas to kill Ukrainians.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive operations and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official did not provide underlying evidence for the assertions.
The US and Europe are maintaining threats of harsh sanctions. Trust between East and West remains elusive.
"We haven't seen a pullback," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News. "He (Putin) can pull the trigger. He can pull it today. He can pull it tomorrow. He can pull it next week. The forces are there if he wants to renew aggression against Ukraine."
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US had seen "more Russian forces, not fewer."
Asked why Russians would claim to be withdrawing when government intelligence, commercial satellite photos and social media videos showed no evidence of that, Price said: "This is the Russian playbook, to paint a picture publicly while they do the opposite."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance also had not seen "any withdrawal of Russian forces," as did multiple European governments. Before chairing a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, he said: "If they really start to withdraw forces, that's something we will welcome, but that remains to be seen."
In the meantime, the alliance is examining this week how and when to rapidly dispatch troops and equipment to countries closest to Russia and the Black Sea region should Moscow order an invasion.
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Man from Rajasthan arrested for duping devotees visiting Kollur Temple using fake website
Kollur: A 21-year-old youngster from Tijari district of Rajasthan was arrested by Kollur Police on Friday, December 19, under allegation of having duped devotees by creating a fake website in the name of the Kollur Shri Mookambika Temple.
The arrested, identified as Nasir Hussain, allegedly created a website similar to the official site of the temple, offering booking of rooms near the temple, taking money from the devotees to book the rooms and giving them fake receipts.
Kollur Police had registered a case on November 3, based on a complaint filed by the executive officer of the Kollur Shri Mookambika Temple.
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The case was registered under the Information Technology Act since the Kollur Temple is under the Muzrai Department and the investigation was carried out under the directions of Kundapur Deputy Superintendent HD Kulkarni. The police team, led by Byndoor Circle Inspector Shivakumar B and Kundapur Rural Circle Inspector Santhosh A Kaikini, comprised Kollur Sub-inspectors Vinay M Korlahalli and Bhimashankar Sinnoora as well as constables Nagendra of Kollur Police Station, Raghavendra Shetty and Krishna Devadiga of Gangolli Police Station.
The investigation team arrested Hussain on Friday, and confiscated the laptop used for the crime.
The arrested accused was produced in Byndoor court on Saturday and sent to judicial custody.
