Russia will begin its invasion of Ukraine after February 20, according to Politico. Previously, this publication promised an attack on February 16th. In Russia, they joke about the inaccurate data of Western publications, but they do not intend to sue them or demand a public apology for fakes. The Kremlin has already called the new date of the "invasion" "another fake."

February 20

“After February 20, there were always more important time frames. We are looking at what the Russian forces will do then... This is a useful date to see if they are lying or not. When someone lies, it says a lot, ”Politico quotes Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian armed forces from the CNA think tank.

According to him, it is on February 20 that the joint military exercises of Russia and Belarus should end. Observers should monitor whether Russian troops are actually returning to their barracks or moving to another location near the border with Ukraine, Kofman said. He added that it is also worth checking whether Russian troops from the Eastern Military District, which have recently moved westward, will soon return.

The authors of the article also noted that it is on February 20 that the Munich Security Conference should end. It is attended by high-ranking US officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The article notes that,

If the Russian Federation attacks while the Ukrainian leader is outside the country, it will turn out to be “absolute humiliation”, “geopolitical trolling that Putin loves”.

In addition, the Politico article states that February 20 is the last day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Allegedly, this "leads some to believe that Putin will not launch an invasion before the closing ceremony to make Chinese leader Xi Jinping happy."

The authors of the article claim that every expert they interviewed said that the statements of Russian officials about the peaceful resolution of the crisis are a "trick". Allegedly, Putin "is using the extra time to prepare a pretext for an invasion."

“Every week that Russian troops remain on standby further narrows the window for a possible invasion. Keeping troops out in the cold in makeshift tents and without regular supply lines means Russian forces can’t stay on Ukraine’s doorstep forever… At some point Putin needs to be ordered to invade or retreat, although some equipment can be left in place,” concluded publication authors.

Meanwhile, Reuters is broadcasting live from Kiev titled "View of the Kiev Maidan against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis."

Associated with the full moon

“We have a new date for the invasion - February 20 and beyond until the “decline of Europe”. This time the American edition with the European headquarters of Politico. They write that March 16 was planned, since this day is associated with the full moon, and March 20 - with the end of the Munich Conference, ”said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in her Telegram channel on Politico’s new assumption.

According to her, the situation is reminiscent of Ostrovsky's Balzaminov's Marriage: “They say some kind of comet or planid is coming! So scientists looked at the sky through a metroscope and calculated everything exactly according to the numbers: on what day and at what hour it will sit on the ground.

And the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not plan lawsuits against publications that wrote about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but readers should understand what their information is worth. He called the claims of the Western press about the Russian "invasion" after February 20 "another fake."

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, when asked whether the escalation around Ukraine would end on February 20, answered “I don’t know, we are not arranging it.”

“The whole situation is not developing on our Russian territory, it is developing in the minds, brains and media of the West, primarily the United States, Great Britain, and, of course, Mr. (NATO Secretary General Jens) Stoltenberg is actively developing this situation, so all questions about whether how to cope with what they call escalation should be addressed to them, ”he also noted.

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Previous dates of the “invasion”

The West accuses the Russian Federation that it has concentrated about 145,000 troops on various sections of its border with Ukraine. Allegedly, this is how the Kremlin is preparing an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow denies all accusations and emphasizes that any movement of troops across the country's territory is a sovereign matter.

However, US officials said over the weekend that Russia has accelerated its invasion plans and could launch a full-scale ground and air offensive as early as Tuesday-Wednesday.

Thus, the American Bloomberg agency, which had already mistakenly reported on the beginning of the “invasion” of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, stated with reference to US administration officials that Russia could “attack” the neighboring country on February 15.

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