Putin plots invasion
Ukraine fear after troops pack border
RUSSIAN troops are edging closer to invading Ukraine, dubbed a “Pearl Harbor moment”, with thousands of troops massing near the border.
The alert from US intelligence could involve 100,000 soldiers, artillery, missiles and tank formations.
As tensions mounted yesterday, RAF Typhoons intercepted two Russian spy planes as they neared UK airspace.
They were driven away after failing to respond to air traffic control.
The White House sent alerts to NATO allies, saying Moscow may be preparing to extend its 2014 annexation mission.
Then hundreds of thousands of troops flooded Crimea, which is part of Ukraine.
British expert Bruce Jones likened a possible invasion to Pearl Harbor.
He said Russia President Vladimir Putin does not want to return to the old Soviet status but aims to exceed it.
Mr Jones said: “Moscow hates the West for the outcome of the Cold War, the fall of the USSR, for causing repeated economic crises and stationing troops right up to Russia’s border.” Ruslan Demenchko, first deputy of national security for Ukraine’s defence council, warned of a “wave of destabilisation”.
He added Moscow is curbing gas supplies and blocking other fuels amid fears blackouts could spark civil unrest.
Spies are also using “anti-Covid jab propaganda” to spread lies about Kyiv.
Russia has been expanding its arms, including hypersonic missiles, which reach nine times the speed of sound.
Ukrainian commanders have sent a further reinforcement of 8,500 troops to the 300-mile frontier with Russia.
Moscow-backed Belarus is also “weaponising” migrants by pushing them toward the Polish border.
Former intelligence officer Mike Tapp said the refugee crisis is part of Mr Putin’s plan to “destabilise the West”.
A small number of British troops have been deployed to Poland to assist in securing the border with Belarus.