RUSSIA wants to split Ukraine in half like North and South Korea, the country’s military intelligence chief has warned as frustrated Putin launches a deadly new pincher move.
Kyrylo Budanov has accused Russian troops of attempting apply what he calls the “Korean scenario” after failing to capture Kyiv as the invasion continues to stall.
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Budanov, Ukraine’s head of defence intelligence, said Putin’s butchers will soon launch a guerrilla warfare in Russian-occupied territory in a bid to create a Moscow-controlled region.
In a statement released by the Defense Ministry, Budanov said Putin realised “he can’t swallow the entire country” – and would instead try to divide the country like North and South Korea.
“The occupiers will try to pull the occupied territories into a single quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine,” he added.
Budanov pointed at Russian attempts to set up parallel governments in occupied cities and trying to stop people using the Ukrainian currency.
He believes Putin’s priorities are now in the east and south of Ukraine as the Russian tyrant launches a terrifying pincer move.
The warning was triggered after the leader of one separatist-controlled area of Donbas said that he wants to hold a vote on joining Russia – which could mark a precursor to the formal annexation of more Ukrainian territory by Moscow.
Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk Peoples Republic, said it plans to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia in the nearest time.
Russia has supported the separatist rebels in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk since an insurgency erupted there shortly after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
In talks with Ukraine, Moscow has demanded Kyiv acknowledge the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Just days before invading, Putin recognised the rebel regions as independent states – though the rest of the world considers them part of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the West of cowardice as his brave troops stave off invading troops.
The Ukrainian President has pleaded for more fighter jets and tanks to be sent out to help defend against Putin’s butchers.
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He urged Western leaders to hand over supplies that are “gathering dust” in stockpiles.
“I’ve talked to the defenders of Mariupol today. I’m in constant contact with them. Their determination, heroism and firmness are astonishing,” he said in a video address on Sunday.
Referring to NATO, Zelensky added: “If only those who have been thinking for 31 days on how to hand over dozens of jets and tanks had one per cent of their courage.”
His remarks came after Joe Biden sparked chaos with an unscripted gaffe vowing Putin “cannot remain in power” – which experts said risks prolonging the war in Ukraine.
The White House frantically backtracked and insisted the US President, 79, was not calling for regime change in his speech in Poland yesterday.
Biden’s apparently off-the-cuff remark sparked fury in Moscow and also rang alarm bells in the West.
Experts said the gaffe – Biden’s second in two days – would be taken in Russia as confirmation the US is bent on overthrowing Putin.
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, called it a bad lapse in discipline which risked extending the scope and duration of Putin’s war.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia today revealed the next round of face-to-face peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow will held in Turkey.
It’s understood the two sides will meet between March 28 and 30.
Ukraine described previous talks after Putin unleashed his bloody invasion on February 24 as “very difficult”.
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