Putin May Invade Ukraine This Coming Wednesday - Intelligence Source

Russia is planning to invade Ukraine on Wednesday, a credible intelligence report has claimed, as US President Joe Biden urgently arranged a telephone call with Vladimir Putin on Saturday in a bid to prevent war.  

According to German newspaper Der Spiegel, the US Secret Service, CIA and the Pentagon are said to have received intel of an 'exceptionally detailed' invasion plan, scheduled for February 16. 

The plans were passed on to Biden's government and discussed in a series of secret briefings with NATO allies.

They are said to contain specific routes that might be taken by individual Russian units and detail what roles they might play in the conflict. 

 

The White House confirmed that Biden and Putin would discuss the crisis by phone today - just hours after thousands of Brits and Americans were warned to get out of Ukraine while they still can, as tensions reached boiling point.  

Der Speigel suggests that a possible US tactic to scupper the plans is to make them public, including the invasion date. 

Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee, today branded the situation 'our Cuban missile crisis moment' as he called for British-led NATO divisions to be in the country.

The Conservative MP told Times Radio: 'An invasion is imminent. Once that happens, because of the grain the comes out of Ukraine for the world, (that will) affect food prices across the world.

'Oil and gas prices will be affected as well, and European security will then be threatened further, so we have to ask ourselves, what should we do instead?

'What are the calculations, and yes, there is this looking Putin in the eye wondering what would happen.

'This is our Cuban missile crisis moment'.

He said the consequences of allowing Ukraine to fall would see a 'new era of instability with a Russia and China axis developing' while the West is 'shrinking in size' and authoritarianism is on the rise.

It comes after the Foreign Office this week updated its advice to tell UK nationals to 'leave now while commercial means are still available' amid mounting concerns they could get caught up in fighting - including a deadly 'aerial bombardment of Kiev' - should Putin give the go-ahead to his 130,000 troops currently massed near Ukraine's borders.

The urgent government update came less than 24 hours after the US also issued an evacuation order, as western analysts raised the alarm that Vladimir Putin was about to send in his forces. 

The European Union also told non-essential staff from its diplomatic mission in Ukraine that they should leave the country, but stopped short of issuing a full evacuation order.  

On Friday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington believes Vladimir Putin could invade Ukraine any day, and issued a warning to Americans in the country: Get out immediately because the U.S. will not be coming back to rescue anyone. 

'We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately,' Sullivan said. 'We want to be crystal clear on this point. Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible and in any event in the next 24 to 48 hours. 

'The risk is now high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands. If you stay you are assuming risk, with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and there is no prospect of a U.S. military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion.'

Further to this, PBS reporter Nick Schifrin tweeted on Friday: 'US officials anticipate a horrific, bloody campaign that begins with two days of aerial bombardment and electronic warfare, followed by an invasion, with the possible goal of regime change.'

And late on Friday night, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urgently warned the city's citizens about the danger of a Russian attack. The former heavyweight boxing champion's statement - the first serious warning to the city's population- was issued late last night on social media.

The mayor released a statement on Telegram about preparations underway in case of attack. They included securing communications in case the internet or phone network went down, increasing bomb shelter capacity, stockpiling fuel & agreeing plans for evacuation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson voiced fears 'for the security of Europe' during a call with world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, whilst in a sign of the increasing tensions, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was yesterday involved in testy exchanges with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. 

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who is currently in Russia, warned an invasion could come 'at any time', echoing Washington's warnings that the Kremlin has amassed enough troops at the border to call an attack. 

Meanwhile, videos purportedly showing atomic canons being moved towards Ukraine sparked fears Putin may be sending nuclear armed military hardware within striking distance of major cities.

The video - showing huge 2S7 Pion guns - was captured in Vesela Lopan, Bolgorod in Western Russia and just 10 miles from the Ukrainian border, according to The Sun.

Known as the 'Soviet atomic cannon', the devastating weapon is one of the most powerful artillery cannons ever built. It can carry up to four 203 mm nuclear shells, which have the potential to annihilate large areas. 

In a chilling press conference earlier this week, Putin warned that were Ukraine to join NATO, the risk of nuclear war would increase. Russia has demanded that the alliance completely rules out Ukraine from ever joining.

In the FCDO's updated advice, the government has said: 'British nationals in Ukraine should leave now while commercial means are still available. Since January 2022, the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders has increased the threat of military action. The Embassy remains open but will be unable to provide in-person consular assistance. British nationals should leave while commercial options remain.'

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, which is why we have updated our travel advice. We urge British nationals in Ukraine to leave now via commercial means while they remain available.' 

According to The Guardian, sources said the UK is not preparing an emergency airlift for British citizens because there are still commercial flights operating daily and the land border with Poland is open. 

It is believed that the number of British citizens in Ukraine is in the low thousands, but many have strong ties to the country and are unlikely to leave. 

The Foreign office's advice comes a day after US President Joe Biden urged all American citizens to leave the country. Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Latvia, Norway and the Netherlands also told their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, while Israel said it was evacuating relatives of embassy staff.  

The White House said Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could come within the week, possibly within the next two days, and urged Americans to leave the country now. 

A call between Biden and Putin will take place on Saturday, a US official said tonight, as top US General Mark Milley spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart General Valery Gerasimo. The pair 'discussed several security-related issues of concern,' an official said. 

Meanwhile, a senior official said that the US is sending 3,000 more troops to Poland, as President Biden met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders on Friday to brief them on developments.

The new wave of US troops join 1,700 who already are assembling there to support NATO allies. 

The official, who provided the information on condition of anonymity before an official announcement, said the additional soldiers will depart their post at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, over the next couple of days and should be in Poland by early next week. 

They are the remaining elements of an infantry brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division. A further 8,500 U.S. troops are already on alert. 

It also emerged on Friday that U.S. and European officials are finalising an extensive package of sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine that targets major Russian banks, but does not include banning Russia from the SWIFT financial system, according to U.S. and European officials. 

A diplomatic source said the strategy now was to intensify efforts to spell out the cost to Putin of invasion. 

'The message has to be that he cannot win,' the source told DailyMail.com.   

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States did not have definitive information that an invasion has been ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he said all the pieces were in place for a major military operation that could start 'rapidly'.

'The risk is high enough and the threat is now immediate enough that prudence demands that it is the time to leave now,' Mr Sullivan said.

'We are not saying that a decision has been taken by President Putin,' Mr Sullivan added.

'What we are saying is that we have a sufficient level of concern based on what we are seeing on the ground, and what our intelligence analysts have picked up, that we are sending this clear message.'

He added that the possibility of an invasion taking place before the end of the Winter Olympics on February 20 is a 'credible prospect' and a 'very, very distinct possibility'. 

He said new Russian forces were arriving at the border and they are in a position to 'mount a major military operation in Ukraine any day now', which could include a 'rapid assault on the city of Kyiv' or on other parts of the country. 

Speaking from the White House, Mr Sullivan said Russia could choose 'in very short order to commence a major military action against Ukraine', but stressed the US does not know whether Mr Putin has made a final decision.

Mr Sullivan said the 'threat is now immediate enough' to urge Americans to leave Ukraine 'as soon as possible and in any event in the next 24 to 48 hours'.

He did not mince words for those who choose to remain: 'The president will not be putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at risk by sending them into a war zone to rescue people who could have left now but chose not to.' 

Sullivan spoke shortly after Biden and six European leaders, the heads of NATO and the European Union held talks on the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War. 

In a call lasting around 80 minutes, Downing Street said Mr Johnson urged Nato allies to make it clear to Moscow there is a 'heavy package of economic sanctions ready to go'.

'The Prime Minister told the group that he feared for the security of Europe in the current circumstances,' a No 10 spokeswoman said, in an account of the call that included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, as well as EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.

Mr Johnson warned that the penalties would be 'extremely damaging' to Russia's economy and urged that allies must reinforce Nato's eastern frontiers.

Russia is holding massive war games in neighbouring Belarus and insisting that the highly strained relations is not its fault. 

Moscow denies planning to invade Ukraine, but says it could take unspecified 'military-technical' action unless a series of demands are met, including promises from NATO never to admit Ukraine and to withdraw forces from Eastern Europe.

The West has said those main demands are non-starters. The EU and NATO alliance delivered responses this week on behalf of their member states.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it wanted individual answers from each country, and called the collective response 'a sign of diplomatic impoliteness and disrespect'.

The U.S. is set to send 3,000 more troops to Poland in the coming days to try to reassure NATO allies, fource U.S. officials told Reuters news agency on Friday. 

Earlier, Mr Blinken outlined what he said were 'very troubling signs of Russian escalation. 

'We're in a window when an invasion could begin at any time – and to be clear, that includes during the Olympics,' he said. 

Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today warned Russia that an invasion of Ukraine will have 'tragic consequences' as he continued the diplomatic blitz in Moscow.

He stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open as he held talks with counterpart Sergei Shoigu. 

Russia release new footage of military drills on Belarus soil.