Participants in a march commemorating the eighth anniversary of the Maidan attack in Odessa, Ukraine, Feb. 20, 2022. Russian military exercises on Ukraine's border were extended indefinitely on Sunday, leaving an unrelenting threat hanging over a vastly outgunned Ukrainian military and jittery population after a weekend of shelling and evacuations that American and Ukrainian officials warned was an effort by Moscow to create a pretext for an invasion. (

Western concerns that Russia will invade Ukraine have only grown in recent days and the outlook looks grim, three Western officials said on Monday.

Russian military units are poised for an invasion of Ukraine and there has been an uptick in supposed provocations in Russian-backed separatist regions of Ukraine, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The overall picture, the officials said, is a "very dark one with storm clouds gathering on Ukrainian border".

The outlook is grim, Western officials say on Russia-Ukraine

Russian military units are poised for an invasion of Ukraine and there has been an uptick in supposed provocations in Russian-backed separatist regions of Ukraine, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

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