Published: 16:44, 30 Jan 2023
Updated: 9:28, 31 Jan 2023
RUSSIA is massing at least 200,000 soldiers for a massive new assault on Ukraine, Nato's top official has warned.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg grimly said there is "no sign" that Vladimir Putin is "preparing for peace".
He warned that Russia is preparing for "more war" ahead of the conflict's first anniversary at the end of the February.
It comes amid intelligence reports that Mad Vlad is may be readying for a massive new offensive.
And it has been reported Vlad could launch a new blitzkrieg-style onslaught in attempt to win the war by taking Kyiv.
Ukraine fears the assault could coincide with February 24 - the first anniversary of the Vlad's invasion.
Stoltenberg did not give any details - but reiterated the need for the West to continue arming Ukraine.
He warned the world to "prepare for the long haul" and said it is "extremely important that Putin doesn't win".
Russia winning in Ukraine would empower dictators and make the world "more dangerous".
He warned Putin will not sit down at the table while he still "believes he can win on the battlefield".
Speaking in South Korea, Stoltenberg said: "We don't see any signs that President Putin and rules in Moscow are preparing for peace."
"We see the opposite. We see that they are preparing for more war, that they are mobilizing more soldiers, more than 200,000, and potentially even more than that.
"That they are actively acquiring new weapons, more ammunition, ramping up their own production, but also acquiring more weapons from other authoritarian states like Iran and North Korea.
"And most of all, we have seen no sign that President Putin has changed his overall goal of this invasion that is to control a neighbour, to control Ukraine.
"So as long as this is the case, we need to be prepared for long haul."
Stoltenberg explained that the only way to force Putin to the table was to keep arming Ukraine.
"What we do know it that what happens around that table is inextricably linked to and totally dependent on the situation on the battlefield," he said.
"So if we really want Ukraine to prevail as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe, then we need to support them now.
"Military support today makes it possible to reach a peace agreement tomorrow."
Ukraine has been warning over the winter that Putin's forces will be gearing up for renewed attack in 2023.
And they are continuing to call for arms - with their forces now due to receive Challenger 2, Leopard 2, and M1 Abrams tanks from the UK, Germany and the US.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security and defence council, said: "Now they are preparing for maximum activation, and they believe that by the anniversary they should have some achievements.
"There is no secret that they are preparing for a new wave by February 24, as they themselves say."
It has been 11 months since Mad Vlad invaded Ukraine - sending his forces pouring over the border to march on Kyiv.
But it was not the days-long "special military operation" Putin and his men hoped it would be.
And now, according to Ukraine, more than 126,000 Russians are lying dead in the war's muddy battlefields.
The war has seen Vlad's forces thrown back and any hopes of a quick victory have sunk to the bottom of the Black Sea.
But despite staggering losses - the Russian army is understood to be more than one million men strong, with another two million reservists who could called up.
And Putin's defence boss Sergei Shoigu has announced plans to swell the number of active personnel to one and a half million from 2023.
Putin's future is now tied to his success or failure in the war - with rumours swirling around his health and his fears of a coup.
Kyiv has warned that Russia is preparing to call up another 500,000 conscripts to refresh its decimated military - in addition to 300,000 who were called up in October.
And earlier this month, Russian outlet Volya Media reported that Russia could be gearing up for a new offensive involving up to 700,000 soldiers.
It come amid flurries of speculation about what is going to happen next in the war - with Russia consistently on the back foot despite recent gains in Soledar.
It has been suggested Putin could announce a second wave of mass mobilisation to bolster his army and war games have been ongoing between Belarus and Russia.
Russian troops and forces continue to moved into the former Soviet state ruled by Europe's last dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
And questions still remain if Putin will pressure Belarus into formally joining the war against Ukraine.
The mastermind of the new plan is reportedly General Valery Gerasimov.
Gerasimov - the head of the general staff - was given direct control of Putin's invasion, supplanting the previous commander "General Armageddon" Sergey Surovikin.
It has been reported elsewhere that Vlad has ordered Gerasimov to make significant progress by March - including seizing control of the Donbas by March.
Volya reported that Gerasimov believes attacking the western regions could end the war by forcing a surrender by Ukraine.
It was reported that Gerasimov dreams for fighting a war on the scale of World War 2 - massing thousands of soldiers, tanks and artillery pieces to "level cities to the ground".
The outlet closed its report by saying the carnage in Ukraine could reach a scale that has "not yet been seen since the beginning of the war" on February 24.
Russia has publicly announced plans to boost the size of its military in 2023 - going from around one million to 1.5million by 2026.
And Ukraine have consistently been warning of a new Russian offensive, with hero Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky calling on the West to send them more weapons.
The Kremlin remains furious about the supply of weapons into Ukraine, calling the conflict a "hybrid war" with the West.
Russia continues to terrorise Ukraine - and today it was revealed Mad Vlad even threatened to kill Boris Johnson in a phone call before the invasion.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21214989/putin-200k-russia-ukraine-nato/
Russia will have a shortage of men!
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