Ex-NATO boss warns of planned Russian invasion into Ukraine; asserts it has 3 phases

While Kremlin continues to dismiss the reports of a possible attack on Ukraine, the Former Prime Minister of Denmark and ex-Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen has now warned of a planned Russian “invasion” of Ukraine as tensions continue to escalate. As per the Sputnik report, the former NATO boss has elaborated an alleged three-phase plan culminating with a march towards the Ukrainian capital. Rasmussen, however, noted that he was unsure if Russia would realise it. 

As officials continue to warn of a Russian invasion into Ukraine, Kremlin has rejected the accusations of the West as a ploy to place more NATO arms near the Russia-Ukraine border. It is to note that Rasmussen led an alliance from 2009 to 2014 and he assessed the United States intelligence. Following this, the ex-NATO boss said that a Russian “invasion” could take place as early as the beginning of 2022 and include up to 175,000 soldiers, as "reliable".

Russia's plan has three phases

Rasmussen noted that the first phase of Russia’s attack on Ukraine would be by shutting the latter’s access to the Black Sea to seal off the flow of new supplies, stated Sputnik. This would be followed by another phase including the bombing of Ukrainian military forces to its bits before launching the third and the last phase, which is to advance towards the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. He told Denmark's TV2, “So there are completely concrete plans, but we do not know if Putin will realise them.”

Former NATO boss noted that when Russia ‘annexed’ the Crimean Peninsula, it took the organisation by surprise. Rasmussen ventured that an invasion next year will be comparatively less surprising. However, he is reportedly not convinced that Moscow would follow through. Earlier, senior US administration officials had said that President Joe Biden administration believed Russia is ready to attack Ukraine from three sides. 

Rasmussen’s remarks came in the backdrop of Biden saying that the US would make it ‘very, very hard’ for Russia to invade Ukraine. It is also pertinent to note that Russian President Vladimir Putin and American counterpart Biden will be holding a video call on December 7 with a major focus on the situation in Ukraine. 

Image: AP