Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin prepares 2,000 tanks as he unleashes attack on Zaporizhzhia

Russia is massing around 1,800 tanks, 700 aircraft and 500,000 men for a new assault on Ukraine, ‘which will start in just 10 days’, it has been warned.

Ukraine has stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is stocking up on weapons and ammunition in preparation for a massive new offensive in the coming weeks.

There are now fresh fears that the despot will launch an attack that will coincide with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said several Russian missiles had flown over Moldova and NATO member Romania on Friday, and that they were a challenge to the military alliance and collective security.

“The enemy launched at least 70 rockets in another massive attack (on Ukraine) this morning,” Zelensky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

“Several Russian missiles passed through the airspace of Moldova and Romania. These missiles are a challenge to NATO and collective security. This is terror that can and must be stopped.”

Russia launched 71 cruise missiles at Ukraine on Friday and 61 of them were shot down, Ukraine‘s air force said.

“As of 11:30 a.m., the enemy had launched 71 X-101, X-555 and Kalibr missiles. The air defence forces, Air Force and other components of the Ukrainian Defence Forces destroyed 61 enemy cruise missiles,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier on Friday that Russia had fired more than 50 missiles at Ukraine and most of them were shot down.

“Russia cannot accept failures and therefore continues to terrorise the (Ukrainian) population. Another attempt (on Friday) to destroy the Ukrainian energy system and deprive Ukrainians of light, heat, and water,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

The Air Force said Russia had used eight Tu-95MS strategic bombers, and that they had fired X-101 and X-555 missiles from the Caspian Sea and the city of Volgodonsk in Russia.

Russian forces also launched Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, it said.

Sending fighter jets to Ukraine is not an issue for Germany right now, spokespersons for the defence and foreign ministries said on Friday.

“That is not an issue for us,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson told a regular government news conference in Berlin. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson added: “This is not a debate at the moment.”

Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week asked Western allies to provide Kyiv with advanced aircraft to defeat Russia‘s invasion, though it is not yet clear how many countries are willing to do so or when they could deliver the fighters.

A Russian missile launched off a ship near Crimea on Friday crossed into Moldovan airspace before hitting Ukraine, some 35 kms northeast of NATO state Romania’s border, the Romanian defence ministry said.

“The Romanian Air Force’s surveillance system detected on Friday an air target, most likely a cruise missile launched from a Russian ship in the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The closest the target trajectory got to Romania’s airspace was recorded by the radar at roughly 35 kms northeast of the border.”

Ukraine‘s top general said two Kaliber missiles launched from the Black Sea had entered Moldovan airspace, then flew into Romanian airspace, before entering Ukraine.

Ukraine shot down 10 Russian missiles over the capital Kyiv on Friday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

“There is damage to power grids. There are no casualties. Energy workers are working to restore the network,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app, quoting the Ukrainian military.

The dates that Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to launch an ‘unstoppable’ nuclear Satan-2 missile have been revealed.

In a shocking new revelation, the tyrant is tipped to be readying the missile to shock the West, as he plans to test launch his 208-tonne hypersonic Satan-2 apocalypse missile within days.

The firing of the explosive, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, may coincide with the anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.

The Russian anti-war journalist Marina Ovsyannikova is holding press conference which you can watch live here:

Russia unleashed a new wave of missile strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine on Friday, causing explosions in the capital Kyiv and hitting cities across the country.

At least 17 missiles hit the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia in an hour in the heaviest attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, local officials said.

Several energy facilities in eastern, southern and western Ukraine were hit, disrupting the power supply, national grid operator Ukrenergo said after overnight drone and missile strikes on power stations and transmission facilities.

“The air alert will be long,” said Maksym Marchenko, regional governor of the southern region of Odesa. “Please do not ignore the air alert sirens, and go to the shelters.”

The new Russian attacks followed a rare trip abroad this week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that included talks with European Union leaders in Brussels aimed at securing more weapons for Ukraine including fighter jets.

At least three explosions shook Kyiv and the surrounding region, with officials saying air defence systems were in operation in the capital and in other parts of the country.

Russia‘s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Friday discussed nuclear safety issues with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi during his visit to Moscow.

The two men paid particular attention to the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southern Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.