Putin may declare an all-out war on Ukraine on May 9, Victory Day: Report

A UK diplomat has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to declare “all-out war” on Ukraine in the next few days, allowing the Kremlin to undertake a general mobilisation of its population.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and de-nazify” the country. The country avoided using the word “war,” believing it would be ended in a matter of weeks.

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As the invasion has dragged on, “frustrated” army officials have urged Putin to declare war, allowing for a huge mobilisation of Russian troops and an escalation of the fight, according to The Daily Mail.

In an interview with LBS, Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated, “We have seen a number of statements from Putin about this becoming a war, ‘this is a proxy war’ – which it isn’t – and ‘Nazis are everywhere’, basically, ‘they are not just in Ukraine, Nato is full of Nazis’. I think he will try to move from his ‘special operation’. He’s been rolling the pitch, laying the ground for being able to say ‘look, this is now a war against Nazis, and what I need is more people. I need more Russian cannon fodder’.”

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The British diplomat also stated that Moscow may announce the wholesale mobilisation of his reserves for the last push in Ukraine on May 9, Russia’s Victory Day, which marks Nazi Germany’s surrender and the conclusion of World War II in 1945.

“I would not be surprised, and I don’t have any information about this, that he is probably going to declare on this May Day that ‘we are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people’,” he added.

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Meanwhile, on Saturday, three deadly Russian shellings pounded Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv. Artillery and mortar strikes killed one person and injured five others, according to Kharkiv’s regional military administration on Telegram.

Although Ukraine retains control of Kharkiv, the city is nevertheless subject to regular bombardment by Russian forces.

The Kharkiv attack comes just days after Russia launched an airstrike on Kyiv during UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‘ visit. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the attack, saying that “high-precision, long-range air-based weapons… destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv.”

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Meanwhile, Ukrainian police reported finding three bodies with their wrists tied behind their backs in a pit near Bucha, a town near Kyiv, on Saturday.

“The victims’ hands were tied, cloths were covering their eyes and some were gagged. There are traces of torture on the corpses, as well as gunshot wounds to various parts of the body,” according to a police statement.