U.S. says Russian claim of pullback around Ukraine is ‘false,’ instead accusing Moscow of adding troops

The statement was buttressed by Britain’s chief of defense intelligence, Lt. Gen. James Hockenhull, who said in a rare public statement that the Kremlin “continues to build up military capabilities near Ukraine.”

“This includes sightings of additional armored vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine’s borders,” he added. “Russia has the military mass in place to conduct an invasion of Ukraine.”

What’s happening in the Ukraine-Russia crisis

The head of Estonia’s external intelligence service, Mikk Marran, on Wednesday predicted Russia will launch a “limited” attack on Ukraine that avoids major cities. The Baltic NATO member state this week released an annual intelligence report steeped in concerns about Russia’s growing military capabilities and willingness to use the threat of war as a “key foreign policy tool.”

Russia has denied it plans to invade Ukraine, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram early Thursday that Western intelligence was “nothing but utter disgrace.” Other Kremlin officials have accused Western leaders of failing to “soberly assess the situation.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels that Russia’s willingness to challenge the post-Cold War European security order means that the bloc faces a “new normal.”

The Western alliance is considering adding more battle groups in central, eastern and southeastern Europe — including in Romania and Bulgaria — to complement the four established in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Separately, Britain confirmed Wednesday it will double the size of its force in Estonia under NATO command. “NATO and our allies have been clear that an invasion of Ukraine will be met with severe consequences,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.

Russia is demanding that NATO halts its eastern expansion — precluding Ukraine from ever joining — and wants the alliance to significantly scale back its presence and activities in Eastern Europe. The United States and its partners have said the alliance’s open-door policy is nonnegotiable but progress could be made on other issues, including reciprocal arms-control measures and limitations on military exercises.

As Ukrainians marked a “day of unity” to confront possible Russian aggression, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited servicemen near the country’s border with Russia on Wednesday. He also attended a tactical exercise in Ukraine’s west — a counter to the expansive drills undertaken between Russia and Moscow-friendly Belarus in recent days — and inspected Javelin missiles and other assault weapons donated by the United States and other Western partners.

Ukrainians woke up not knowing whether Feb. 16 was to be a date that would live in infamy, following predictions it could be the day Russia invaded. In a hip Kyiv neighborhood the predictions about a looming war didn’t worry Anastasia Kuznetsova.

“Everyone is talking about war and what will happen and blah blah blah. But for people who are working, it’s all the same. Just an ordinary day,” said the 24-year-old, who was wearing headphones and working a vape pen.

With solidarity, apathy and a few songs, Ukraine’s Unity Day reflects a weary nation

Vice President Harris will arrive in Germany Thursday night for the Munich Security Conference, a gathering launched by Western nations at the height of the Cold War to address security challenges. The Kremlin has said it won’t send any officials. Harris, who will be joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is set to meet NATO’s Stoltenberg and the leaders of the three Baltic states. Germany’s Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday that foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations will hold crisis talks on Ukraine on the meeting’s sidelines.

Despite the contradictory claims about Russian troop withdrawals, Wolfgang Ischinger, a German diplomat who chairs the Munich conference, expressed guarded optimism following this week’s visit to Moscow by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“The news out of Moscow are encouraging. Chancellor Scholz should be congratulated: he can return home not having been humiliated by Putin,” he wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “Basis for meaningful relationship. Peace at Hand?”

Pannett reported from Sydney. Ellen Nakashima in Washington and Steve Hendrix and Isabelle Khurshudyan in Kyiv contributed to this report.