As Putin’s 100,000-strong force masses on border, Ukraine’s Dad’s Army train with fake wooden guns
of the Ukrainian territorial army were pictured training with wooden guns yesterday – as the might of the Russian army massed on their border.
Volunteers in the Kiev Territorial Defence Unit trained in an industrial area of the country’s capital as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for Russia to ‘halt its aggression’.
Her plea comes amid heightening tensions in the region after Moscow stationed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border.
Yesterday, Ms Truss tweeted: ‘Russia is waging a disinformation campaign intended to destabilise and justify an invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine.
‘Russia must halt its aggression, de-escalate and engage in meaningful talks.’ She added the hashtag ‘stand with Ukraine’.
On Friday, the US said it had intelligence that Russia was planning a ‘false flag’ operation by sending troops into Ukraine who would carry out acts of sabotage on their own forces as a pretext for war.
‘The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces,’ one official said. US National Security
adviser Jake Sullivan suggested Russia used the same strategy when it occupied Crimea in 2014. But the Russian embassy in Washington angrily dismissed the claims, saying: ‘As usual, there is no evidence.’ Despite the denial, Russia pressed ahead with live firing exercises.
Ukraine also accused Russia of being behind a massive cyber-attack on dozens of official websites on Friday. Russian hackers were alleged to have left threatening messages on government websites.
Tensions remain fraught despite a week of diplomatic talks. Russian demands for a veto on former Soviet states joining Nato and a removal of Western troops from eastern Europe have been dismissed by the UK and US.
Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, suggested President Vladimir Putin had ‘negotiated himself into a corner’ and an invasion of Ukraine was ‘inevitable and imminent’.
Yesterday, the Daily Mail revealed that RAF spy planes had started surveillance flights in the region to monitor Russian troop movements.