Washington: More than 40 percent of the Russian forces on the Ukraine border are now in position for attack and Moscow has begun a campaign of destabilization, a US defence official said Friday.

Updating reporters from the latest intelligence reports, Biden said, “We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days.”

A humanitarian convoy was hit by shelling, and pro-Russian rebels evacuated civilians from the conflict zone. A car bombing hit the eastern city of Donetsk, but no casualties were reported sources informed.

Late on Friday, Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed Russian special forces had planted explosives at social infrastructure facilities in Donetsk. Failing to receive a reply to a request for comment, the Kyiv Govt urged its residents to stay home. A part of a gas pipeline near Luhansk, one of the main cities in Ukraine’s breakaway region of the People’s Republic of Luhansk, caught fire after a blast, correspondents on ground cited.