Russian push as Kyiv ‘shot down 11 jets of the enemy’
■ Warning to Nato if its troops fight on the front ■ Armaggedon fears as Putin touts his missiles
RUSSIAN forces are pushing hard against more Ukrainian towns and villages in eastern and southeastern Ukraine as Moscow tries to press its current advantage in weapons and troops, Kyiv officials yesterday said.
It came as Ukraine claimed it has shot down 11 Russian warplanes in less than two weeks as the Kremlin’s forces pushed forward.
The Russian army is trying to seize the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s army chief Col. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Forces
It comes after Ukrainian troops pulled out of Avdiivka on February 17.
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces are focusing on retaking Verbove and Robotyne, Syrskyi said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said his units shot down two Russian Su-34 jets overnight.
Eight Ukrainian civilians were killed over 24 hours, Kyiv yesterday said.
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has vowed to fulfil Moscow’s goals in Ukraine and warned the West against deeper involvement in the fighting, saying that such a move risks a global nuclear conflict.
Mr Putin’s warning came in a state-of-the-nation address ahead of next month’s presidential election that he is all but certain to win, underlining his attempt to protect Russian gains in
Ukraine.
In an apparent reference to
French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement earlier this week that the deployment of Western ground troops to Ukraine should not be “ruled out”, Mr Putin warned that it would lead to “tragic” consequences for countries who decide to do that.
Western allies were “selecting targets for striking our territory and selecting the most efficient as they think striking assets and talking about the possibility of sending a Nato contingent to Ukraine”.
“We remember the fate of those who sent their troop contingents to our country,” the
Russian leader said. “Now the consequences for the potential invaders will be far more tragic.”
Mr Putin noted that while accusing
Russia of Speaking before lawmakers plans to and top officials, Mr Putin attack said the West should keep Nato in mind that “we also have the allies weapons that can strike targets in Europe, on their territory, and what they are now suggesting and scaring the world with, all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilisation”.
“Don’t they understand it?” he said, alleging that Western leaders are playing with options of deeper
Tragic
involvement in the conflict, as in a simulation. “Those people haven’t been through any tough challenges and have forgotten what war means.” Mr Putin stressed Russia’s nuclear forces are in “full readiness”, saying the military has deployed potent new weapons, some of tested in Ukraine.
The Kremlin leader said they include the new Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile that has entered service with Russian nuclear forces, along with the Burevestnik atomic-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon atomic-powered, nucleararmed drone, which are ending tests. At the same time, he rejected Western leaders’ statements about the threat of a Russian attack on Nato allies in Europe as “ravings” and again dismissed Washington’s claim that Moscow was pondering the deployment of space-based nuclear weapons.