The US clearly had some sort of intelligence that the order had already been given, but France and Ukraine, and other countries without access to that or skepti

The US clearly had some sort of intelligence that the order had already been given, but France and Ukraine, and other countries without access to that or skeptical of the source specifically said it was unlikely up until a day or two before. The point is that unless you have an advanced intelligence apparatus, trying to guess what Putin is going to do is meaningless at this point, you have to prepare for every eventuality. Here's an article clearly saying that invasion was not imminent based on Ukrainian intelligence on 20 Feb.[0] [0] https://fakty.com.ua/ua/ukraine/20220220-reznikov-meta-kremlya-zminyty-politychnyj-ustrij-v-ukrayini/ https://fakty.com.ua/ua/ukraine/20220220-reznikov-meta-kreml...