Washington | Russia is close to completing preparations for what appears to be a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that could result in up to 50,000 civilian deaths, decapitate the government in Kyiv within two days and launch a humanitarian crisis with up to 5 million refugees fleeing the resulting chaos, according to updated US military and intelligence assessments briefed to lawmakers and European partners over the past several days.

The rising concerns come as the Russian military continues to send combat units to the Ukrainian border in both its own territory and Belarus. As of Friday (Saturday AEDT), seven people familiar with the assessments said, there were 83 Russian battalions, with about 750 troops each, arrayed for a possible assault. That is up from 60 two weeks ago, and comprises about 70 per cent of what Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to have in place if he wants to maximise the operation.

Washington Post