Russia is continuing to BUILD its forces on Ukraine's border

Russia is continuing to BUILD its forces on Ukraine's border despite Putin claiming he wants peace, UK's top defence intelligence chief reveals Jim Hockenhull said in a rare public statement that officials haven't seen evidence of a Russian withdrawal He said there were sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital near borders It comes as Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity today By TOM PYMAN FOR MAILONLINE PUBLISHED: 20:59 GMT, 16 February 2022 | UPDATED: 21:55 GMT, 16 February 2022 e-mail View comments ADVERTISEMENT Russia is continuing to build its forces on the Ukrainian border, despite Vladimir Putin claiming he wants peace, Britain's defence intelligence chief has revealed. Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhull said there have been sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital heading to the border zone. His stark warning came after Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels said they had seen no evidence to support Russia's claims it had begun withdrawing troops to their bases. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, Gen Hockenhull said: 'Contrary to their claims, Russia continues to build up military capabilities near Ukraine. 'This includes sightings of additional armoured vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine's borders. Russia has the military mass in place to conduct an invasion of Ukraine.' Earlier, alliance defence ministers said they remained 'gravely concerned' by the Russian military build-up and again urged the Kremlin to revert to the 'path of diplomacy' in line with its international commitments. Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Nato was considering establishing new battlegroups in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe to counter the threat from Moscow, which he described as 'the new normal'. Russia has repeatedly denied that it has any intention of attacking Ukraine, despite massing an estimated 130,000 troops along the border with its southern neighbour. Mr Stoltenberg said that while they welcomed signs Moscow was prepared to continue with diplomacy, Nato they had not seen any signs of de-escalation on the ground. 'What we see today is that Russia maintains a massive invasion force ready to attack, with high-end capabilities from Crimea to Belarus. This is the biggest concentration of forces in Europe since the Cold War,' he said. 'Moscow has made it clear that it is prepared to contest the fundamental principles that have underpinned our security for decades, and to do so by using force. I regret to say that this is the new normal in Europe.'