Pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Ukraine’s eastern regions have called on Russia to send ‘military assistance’ after a flurry of what appeared to be false flag attacks early Monday that they blamed on Kiev.
Leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic both appealed to the Kremlin to send troops and weapons across the border after accusing Ukrainian forces of shelling them and launching ‘sabotage’ missions across the border. Russia also claimed a border outpost in its Rostov-on-Don region was hit.
Kiev strongly denies carrying out any artillery or bomb attacks, accusing separatists of faking the blasts – including using limbs collected from morgues to pose as ‘victims’ – as a pre-text for Russia to attack under the guise of ‘protecting’ the breakaway regions.
As the disinformation war escalated, Putin called an unscheduled ‘extraordinary’ meeting of his full security council amid fears he is about to give the order for Russian troops to invade – sparking a bloody war and the most serious stand-off between East and West since the Cold War.
The Kremlin denies plans to attack but videos taken today showed Russian tanks and support vehicles in ‘battle formations’ in the Belgorod region – just across the border from Kharkiv where major Ukrainian military bases are located – with some less than three miles from the dividing line.
Many of the vehicles featured a letter ‘Z’ painted on the side, which first began appearing at the weekend and which observers believe could denote specific battle groups for when an attack takes place.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman said today that it appears Putin’s invasion plan has ‘already begun’, but that a ‘window for diplomacy’ still exists. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, after meeting with NATO, said an invasion appears ‘highly likely’ but that diplomacy must be pursued.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK dismissed Britain’s efforts at talks, while the Kremlin rebuffed hopes of a summit between Biden and Putin to take place next week which France claimed to have brokered and which the White House agreed to ‘in principle’.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was ‘premature’ to start discussing talks between the two men and that nothing ‘concrete’ had been agreed. But officials in Berlin said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will speak to the Russian leader on the phone today.
Meanwhile Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s defence minister, used an appearance before EU ministers in Brussels to call for early sanctions against Russia in order to deter an assault. His call was rebuffed, though the bloc did agree to send a military training mission to assist the country’s armed forces.
Elsewhere today…
- US officials warned Russian battle plans call for ‘overwhelming’ fire against Ukraine that could cause ‘tens of thousands of casualties’ within days of an invasion
- US also warned Russia has prepared a hit-list of people it wants to kill or send to detention camps if Ukraine falls, with dissidents, journalists, political figures , ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people all on the list
- Fresh explosions were heard in Ukraine’s eastern regions with separatist leaders claiming a hospital was struck by a shell and that ‘clashes’ have taken place near the Ukrainian city of Mariupol
- Russia claimed that a Ukrainian shell hit its territory in the Rostov-on-Don region, destroying an unoccupied guard post. Kiev has strongly denied shelling separatist or Russian positions
- Pro-Russian separatists said 60,000 people have now been evacuated from rebel-held areas to Russia
- Air France announced it is halting all flights to and from Kiev, following similar move by Germany’s Lufthansa
Russian tanks an armoured vehicles are seen in what observers described as ‘battle formation’ close to the border with Ukraine today, with a ‘Z’ symbol painted on the sides which is believed to denote a battle group
Russian missile batteries (left) and mobile bridge construction units (right) are seen in a ‘battle formation’ in Maslova Pristan, around 10 miles from the border with Ukraine today
Russia has moved its forces to within three miles of the Ukrainian border, with tanks spotted on manoeuvres in Kursk (left) at the weekend and support trucks in Belgorod (right) on Monday
Russian ‘terminator’ tanks – armoured vehicles that are designed to support infantry units fighting in urban areas – were spotted being transferred to the frontlines at the weekend
‘As we’ve seen in the past, we expect Russia will try to force cooperation through intimidation and repression,’ a US official told Foreign Policy magazine on Friday, before a letter containing the allegations was sent to the US on Monday.
‘These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions.
‘[That] includes Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBT persons.’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the claims an ‘absolute lie’.
There are now thought to be 190,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine comprising around three quarters of its conventional forces backed by 500 fighter jets, 50 heavy bombers, and dozens of attack helicopters.
The Kremlin denies it has plans to attack, but Western allies say Putin is trying to concoct a pretext to invade by stirring up conflict in two breakaway eastern regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – and staging ‘false flag’ attacks to justify marching his troops in on a mission to ‘protect’ them.
Heavy shelling was reported along the frontline at the weekend, leaving several Ukrainian troops dead, following what Russian state media claimed were terror attacks targeting top officials and a gas pipeline in the two regions – which the West said was staged.
Fighting continued on Monday, with separatist commanders alleging that artillery had been fired into the Donetsk region and struck a hospital with ‘clashes’ reported near Mariupol. Russia separately claimed that a Ukrainian shell had blown up a guard post in Rostov-on-Don. Ukraine denies firing at either separatist or Russian territory.
The Kremlin has also been pushing claims that ‘mass graves’ containing the bodies of civilians killed by Ukrainian troops have been discovered in the region, and today submitted documents containing those allegations to the UN Security Council.
Tens of of thousands of civilians – mostly women, children and the elderly – have now being evacuated from rebel-held areas into Russia due to the ‘threat’. Fighting-age men have been ordered to stay behind under the threat of legal sanctions if they try to leave.
In what appeared to be a last-ditch diplomatic gambit brokered with the aid of French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said Biden has agreed ‘in principle’ to a meeting with Putin as long as he holds off on launching an assault.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration has been clear that ‘we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet on Thursday in Europe – as long as Russia does not send its troops into Ukraine beforehand.
‘We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war,’ Psaki said in statement.
‘And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.’
Despite the threat, life in the capital Kiev outwardly continued as usual for many Sunday, with brunches and church services, ahead of what Biden said late last week was an already decided-upon Russian attack.
Katerina Spanchak, who fled a region of eastern Ukraine when it was taken over by Russian-allied separatists, was among worshippers crowded into the capital’s St. Michael’s monastery, smoky with the candles burned by the faithful, to pray that Ukraine be spared.
Video shows another Russian field hospital established in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, amid fears it marks one of the final preparations for an attack
‘We all love life, and we are all united by our love of life,’ Spanchak said, pausing to compose herself. ‘We should appreciate it every day. That’s why I think everything will be fine.’
‘Our joint prayers will help to elude this tragedy, which is advancing,’ said another worshipper, who identified himself only by his first name, Oleh.
A U.S. official said Sunday that Biden’s assertion that Putin has made the decision to roll Russian forces into Ukraine was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.
The United States and many European countries have charged for weeks that Putin has built up the forces he needs to invade Ukraine – a westward-looking democracy that has sought to move out of Russia’s orbit – and is now trying to create pretexts to invade.
Western nations have threatened massive sanctions if Putin does.
U.S. officials on Sunday defended their decision to hold off on their planned financial punishments of Russia ahead of any invasion, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called passionately Saturday for the West to do more.
‘If you pull the trigger on that deterrent, well then, it doesn’t exist anymore as a deterrent,’ Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox on Washington’s sanctions threat.
Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea.
The announcement that Russia was reversing its pledge to withdraw its forces from Belarus came after two days of sustained shelling along a contact line between Ukraine’s soldiers and Russian-allied separatists in eastern Ukraine, an area that Ukraine and the West worry could be the flashpoint in igniting conflict.
Vladimir Putin is pictured today chairing an urgent meeting of Russia’s full security council, amid fears he could be about to give an order to cross the border
Ukrainian tanks take part in training drills at an unknown location somewhere in Ukraine, in an image taken on Sunday but released by the military on Monday
Ukrainian soldiers and helicopters take part in military drills at an unspecified area somewhere in Ukraine on Sunday
A Ukrainian soldier aims a machine-gun mounted on top of an armoured vehicle during training exercises on Sunday
An image taken from the cockpit of a Ukrainian attack helicopter shows a second helicopter flying in formation during military drills in an undisclosed area of the country on Sunday
A Ukrainian soldier aims his rifle during training exercises somewhere in the country, which took place on Sunday
Canadian military aid arrives at Lviv airport, in the west of Ukraine, late Sunday as the West continues to supply the army with defensive weapons against a Russian attack
Biden convened the National Security Council at the White House on Russia’s military buildup around Ukraine. White House officials released no immediate details of their roughly two hours of discussion.
‘We’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,’ U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said earlier Sunday at a security conference in Munich, Germany, that saw urgent consultations among world leaders on the crisis. ‘It’s been over 70 years, and through those 70 years … there has been peace and security.’
Zelenskyy on Sunday appealed on Twitter for a cease-fire. Russia has denied plans to invade, but the Kremlin did not respond to Zelenskyy’s offer Saturday to meet with Putin.
After a call with Macron, Putin blamed Ukraine – incorrectly, according to observers there – for the escalation of shelling along the contact line and NATO for ‘pumping modern weapons and ammunition’ into Ukraine.
Macron, a leader in European efforts to broker a peaceful resolution with Russia, also spoke separately to Zelenskyy, to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and to Biden.
Blinken intentionally raised the prospect of a Biden-Putin summit in interviews with U.S. television networks on Sunday, in a bid to keep diplomacy alive, a senior U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. reasoning.
Blinken said that Biden was ‘prepared to meet President Putin at any time in any format if that can help prevent a war’ and the U.S. official said Macron had then conveyed the offer of talks to Putin – conditioned on Russia not invading – in his phone calls with the Russian leader.
Tensions mounted further, however. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued an advisory urging greater caution by Americans in Russia overall. ‘Have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance,’ it warned.
Immediate worries focused on eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting the pro-Russia rebels since 2014 in a conflict that has killed some 14,000 people.
In the eastern Ukraine regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, separatist leaders have ordered a full military mobilization and sent more civilians to Russia, which has issued about 700,000 passports to residents of the rebel-held territories. Claims that Russian citizens are being endangered might be used as justification for military action.
Officials in the separatist territories claimed Ukrainian forces launched several artillery attacks over the past day and that two civilians were killed during an unsuccessful assault on a village near the Russian border. Ukraine’s military said two soldiers died in firing from the separatist side on Saturday.
‘When tension is escalated to the maximum, as it is now, for example, on the line of contact, then any spark, any unplanned incident or any minor planned provocation can lead to irreparable consequences,’ Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in an interview that aired Sunday on Russian state television.
Russian attack helicopters are pictured taking part in joint drills in Belarus on Sunday, as the Kremlin announced the drills will not end as expected but will be extended to an unknown date – meaning 30,000 troops remain in the country
Smoke rises into the air after Russian attack helicopters blew up a target on a firing range in Belarus during joint training exercises on Sunday – amid fears of an invasion
Tanks and armoured vehicles of the Russian and Belarusian militaries take part in training exercises at the weekend, shortly before the Kremlin announced the drill will be extended and its forces will remain in the country
Russian and Belarussian machine-gunners take part in joint training exercises in Belarus at the weekend
Russian troop tents and tanks (left and centre) are seen near a forested area of the Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine, on Sunday amid fears the order to attack will be given soon
Russian troops and tanks (left) are shown parked up next to attack helicopters (centre) near the town of Valuyki, Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine
Russian tanks and trucks are seen parked in the tree line of a forest in the Belgorod region of Russia (right) in an apparent attempt to hide them from prying satellites
A satellite image shows additional armor and equipment deployed along a tree line, near Valuyki, Russia
A satellite image shows an overview of a new deployment, east of Valuyki, Russia
On the front lines, Ukrainian soldiers said they were under orders not to return fire. Zahar Leshushun, peering into the distance with a periscope, had followed the news all day from a trench where he is posted near the town of Zolote.
‘Right now, we don’t respond to their fire because …’ the soldier said before the sound of an incoming shell interrupted him. ‘Oh! They are shooting at us now. They are aiming at the command post.’
On Friday, separatist officials announced the evacuation of civilians and military mobilization in the face of what they described as an imminent Ukrainian offensive on the rebel regions. Ukrainian officials have strongly denied any plans to launch such an attack and described the evacuation order as part of Russian provocations intended to set the stage for an invasion.
The separatist authorities said Monday that at least four civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling over the past 24 hours and several others were injured. Ukraine’s military said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the weekend, and another serviceman was wounded Monday.
Ukrainian military spokesman Pavlo Kovalchyuk said the Ukrainian positions were shelled 80 times Sunday and eight times early Monday, noting that the separatists were ‘cynically firing from residential areas using civilians as shields.’ He insisted that Ukrainian forces weren’t returning fire.
In the village of Novognativka on the government-controlled side, 60-year-old Ekaterina Evseeva, said the shelling was worse than at the height of fighting early in the conflict.
‘It’s worse than 2014,’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘We are on the edge of nervous breakdowns. And there is nowhere to run.’
Evseeva said that residents were hunkering down in basements amid the renewed fighting: ‘Yesterday I saw my neighbor with her 2-month-old as she was running to the basement. It shouldn’t be like this.’
Russian troops and tanks are spotted in a forest area near civilian buildings (bottom left) near Belgorod, just a short distance from the border with Ukraine
Russian military vehicles are spotted formed up into a convoy and heading south next to a highway and near a forest in Soloti, around 10 miles from the Ukraine border
Satellite images reveal Russian tanks and armoured vehicles are now being concealed within civilian areas and forests close to the border, such as these vehicles on farmland near Soloti
Ukrainian troops near the frontlines with pro-Russian separatist forces train using a British NLAW anti-tank missile launcher
A Ukrainian soldier inspects a rocket-propelled grenade in Novognativka village, near the frontlines with pro-Russia separatists, as fighting in the region escalates
Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces walk along tranches on their position on the front line with Russia backed separatists, near Novognativka
Moscow denies any plans to invade Ukraine, but wants Western guarantees that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members. It also urges the alliance to halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe – demands flatly rejected by the West.
Russian officials have shrugged off Western calls to deescalate by pulling back troops, arguing that Moscow is free to deploy troops and conduct drills wherever it likes on its territory. Last week, Western officials dismissed Russian statements about some of the troops returning to their bases, saying that Moscow was actually beefing up its forces around Ukraine.
A U.S. official said Sunday that Biden’s assertion last week that Putin has made the decision to roll Russian forces into Ukraine was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.
Russia also upped the ante Saturday with sweeping nuclear drills that included multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that Putin personally oversaw.
Ukraine’s president reaffirmed his call for a quick meeting with Putin to help defuse tensions, but there was no response from the Kremlin.
The European Union’s top diplomat, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, welcomed the prospect of a Biden-Putin summit but said that should diplomacy fail the 27-nation bloc has finalized its package of sanctions for use if Putin orders an invasion.
‘The work is done. We are ready,’ said Borrell, who is chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers and was tasked with drawing up a list of people in Russia to be hit with asset freezes and travel bans. He provided no details about who might be targeted.
The European Commission has prepared other sanctions to ‘limit the access to financial markets for the Russian economy and (impose) export controls that will stop the possibility for Russia to modernize and diversify its economy,’ its president, Ursula von der Leyen, said over the weekend.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed Macron’s summit initiative and warned Russia against any false flag action to provoke hostilities. ‘I appeal urgently to the Russian government, to the Russian president: Don’t play with human lives,’ she said as she arrived at the EU top diplomats’ meeting.