Russia deploys 7,000 more troops near Ukraine border, U.S. official says

Russia has deployed as many as 7,000 troops to areas near the Ukraine border over the past few days, despite claims from Russian leader Vladimir Putin that he would pull service members back from the region, a senior Biden official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Western authorities estimate that about 150,000 Russian troops are stationed on the east, north and south of Ukraine. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States had not verified whether the Russian military units were returning to their home bases.

"Indeed our analysts indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position," Biden said.

The unnamed senior official told the AP that Russians are notably making more false claims, including creating reports of Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly killing civilians and burying them in unmarked graves. Another alleged Russian claim is that Ukraine and the United States are producing biological or chemical weapons.

"The official did not provide underlying evidence," the AP noted.