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[Image] [Image] I'm J.J. Green â National Security Correspondent at WTOP News and the voice behind the weekly Inside the SCIF newsletter. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to be on my radar. I have sources in Russia, Ukraine and the entire NATO region as well as sources within the U.S. intelligence community. They provide context and depth to this important and rapidly developing situation. Subscribing to the newsletter today can keep you up to date as the story develops. Inside the SCIF includes nuggets of information I havenât previously reported, links to interesting articles, insider access to my latest interviews and details that intel sources have passed on to me. My hope is that this next edition will give you a broader understanding of why the situation in Ukraine is so vitally important to that region and in turn our own national security. Inside the SCIF will be sent to your inbox each Thursday. Subscribing is simple and itâs free on WTOP.com: [Sign Up Here]( I also go in depth on national security threats facing the U.S. each week in my latest episode of the Target USA podcast. New episodes are published every Wednesday. [Click here]( to learn more. As always, you can [listen live]( to WTOP News 24/7/365 for all your local news, traffic and weather needs on 103.5FM, on your [smartspeaker]( or on the free [WTOP App](. Thanks for reading and listening along with me, J.J. Green I hope you'll sign up. In the meantime, here's a segment from the latest Inside the SCIF newsletter: Welcome to Inside the SCIF #151 | February 17, 2022 BREAKING||UKRAINE SITUATION REPORT - Concerns about Russian operatives creating an excuse for Russia to invade Ukraine grew after a kindergarten in the Donbass region was hit by military ordinance. Ukraineâs Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova told Inside the SCIF, âWhat we saw today, everyoneâs talking about the kindergarten, but it was not just the kindergarten. It was the kindergarten, it was school and in total there were 42 civilian objects today that were shelled from this uncontrolled territory, this territory that is controlled by Russia.â
- The State Department says the Russian government has expelled the second-highest-ranking American official from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Bart Gorman is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Gorman is responsible for managing key aspects of the U.S. â Russia relationship.
- Russia says it will be âforced to respondâ with military-technical measures if the United States does not agree to its security demands. In an [11-page document presented to American officials](, the Kremlin slammed the U.S. for not engaging with Russiaâs security concerns and called for âlegal guaranteesâ that Ukraine will never become a NATO member. What this means for NATO countries in the region âWe have seen a heavy military buildup of Russiaâs forces next to the Ukrainian border. We follow these developments with great concern and we must continue to be vigilant and avoid any escalation with diplomatic efforts.â Eva-Marie Liimets, Foreign Minister, Estonia Understanding Russiaâs Movements "The announcements from the Russian ministries of defence and foreign affairs are a typical example of Russian info operation and propaganda tactics. An unprecedented number of Russian Federation troops and capabilities at a high level of readiness remain on the borders of Ukraine and Belarus. A full scale invasion with this force posture is still possible at a very short notice. Russia has amassed troops, now numbering 130 000 â 150 000, at Ukraineâs borders over the course of several months, and believing that the attack capabilities or the Russian posture have lessened to any extent is erroneous at this point. Throughout this unprecedented military activity, the actions of the Russian Federation have been completely veiled. The current military activity and the expanded military exercises are not in line with the international obligations that Russia has taken, according to which preparing and carrying out military operations has to be done in line with international arms control agreements. The same intransparency also accompanies todayâs notification of units returning to home bases, because it does not go into detail on which units and capabilities are being moved. Therefore, today it is premature to talk about any Russian military de-escalation or relaxing of tensions." -Susan Lilleväli, director of Strategic Communications, Estoniaâs Ministry of Defense If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please safely [unsubscribe](.