Putin Could Attack Ukrainian Cities Within "Minutes" Warns Defence Minister
3 min read
Russia could attack Ukrainian cities within "just a matter of minutes" of launching an invasion, a defence minister has warned, after the UK and US concluded that Russia has not withdrawn troops from the border as claimed earlier this week by the Kremlin.
James Heappey, the Armed Forces Minister, on Thursday morning said: "For all the talk about de-escalation in Moscow, I’m afraid what we’re seeing in the opposite and we’re very worried about it".
He told BBC Breakfast that "all the conditions are set" for a Russian invasion of its neighbour.
"From the moment President Putin takes a decision, it is literally just a matter of minutes before military effect could be felt in Ukrainian cities," Heappey said.
The minister added that while Putin deciding to initiate an invasion wasn't inevitable it was likely given the continued build up of Russian military presence at the Ukranian border.
“I have a gut feeling because I’m seeing what I’m seeing, and I don’t think you spend that amount of money in putting that number of troops and planes and ships into an area unless you mean it," he said.
On Wednesday night a White House official briefed several US publications that Russia's claim to have withdrawn troops from the border with Ukraine was false, and that it had actually increased the number of personnel there by as many as 7,000 troops.
The official told CNN: "Every indication we have now is they mean only to publicly offer to talk, and make claims about de-escalation, while privately mobilizing for war".
In a rare public intervention the Chief of UK Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant General Sir Jim Hockenhul, echoed the remarks of the US official, telling Sky News that the UK had not seen evidence of withdrawal, despite what the Kremlin said.
"Contrary to their claims, Russia continues to build up military capabilities near Ukraine," he said.
"This includes sightings of additional armored vehicles, helicopters and a field hospital moving towards Ukraine’s borders. Russia has the military mass in place to conduct an invasion of Ukraine".
In a call with United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday night, Boris Johnson said there was "currently little evidence of Russia disengaging," according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will deliver a speech in Kyiv today in a show of support for the UK's ally as western efforts to dissuade Putin from launching an invasion continue.
Last night she said that a while Putin invading Ukraine was likely, the west's stand-off with Russia at the border could last months and that it would be a "test of our mettle".
She said: "We must have no illusions that Russia could drag this out much longer in a brazen ploy to spend weeks more - if not months - subverting Ukraine and challenging Western unity".
Earlier this week, Truss said she feared that a Russian invasion "wouldn't stop at Ukraine" because Putin is unhappy that neighbouring eastern European countries are in Nato.
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