Russia deployed troops to begin war in Ukraine, Baltics – ISW analysts

Russia's ground forces are positioned east and north of the Ukrainian border so as to launch a large-scale offensive, however, the Baltic states are also under the threat of hybrid aggression.

This is stated in a report published by analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.

"The Russian military is well-positioned to launch a conventional war in Ukraine and a hybrid war in the Baltic states, the opposite of what Western leaders seem to be expecting in each theater," according to the introductory part of the report.

At the same time, the report notes that U.S. leaders and their European allies are not yet prepared for the ways in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to wage war in Ukraine and the Baltic. NATO leaders increasingly warn of the threat of a conventional invasion of the Baltic States (or even Western Europe).

"But Russian ground forces are not deployed or organized to initiate a short-notice conventional war in that region. They have, however, redeployed and reorganized since 2014 in a way that would support a rapid mechanized invasion of Ukraine from both north and east, while remaining well-prepared to conduct a hybrid warfare intervention in the Baltics similar to what they did in Ukraine after the Maidan Revolution," the document says.

In particular, according to the report, the Kremlin has deployed ground forces in pairs of regiments co-located under division along separate-but-converging lines of advance with well-secured rear areas, all within 80 kilometers of the Ukrainian border.

"The United States and its partners should re-evaluate the most likely Russian courses of action and reconsider the mix of military and non-military tools required to defend NATO allies and Ukraine from potential Russian aggression," the report says.