A serviceman of the Ukrainian Military Forces speaks as he keeps a position on the front line with Russian- backed separatists, near Novolugansk, in the Donetsk region, February 17, 2022.
ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/GETTY
Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”
Important Takeaways:
- Shelling intensifies in eastern Ukraine amid concern Russia’s creating a pretext for an invasion
- Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists they’re fighting in the country’s east reported a second day of increased shelling
- Western leaders say an escalation in the fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region — which has simmered for almost eight years — could be part of Russian efforts to create a pretext to invade.
- America’s defense chief said the United States had still seen no drawdown of the Russian forces massed around Ukraine’s borders.
- The Russian deployment around Ukraine’s borders had actually swelled to between 169,000 and 190,000 troops — the biggest military buildup in Europe since World War II.
- On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a stark assessment of the situation to the U.N. Security Council, saying Washington believed Russia was planning a full-scale attack on Ukraine. He echoed what President Joe Biden had said, that the U.S. believes Russia is trying to manufacture an excuse for war.
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