Hell-Bent...No Stopping Putin

U.S. Warns of full-scale war within 24 hours | Russian president has ‘gone full tonto’ over Ukraine, says Wallace | We're facing darkest times

- Michael Knowles

The world was facing a “moment of peril” last night as leaders warned Russia was preparing to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

US intelligence said Vladimir Putin is primed to give the order to advance in the next 24 hours.

And Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Putin appears to be “hell-bent” on an invasion as tensions continued to rise.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slammed the Russian president, saying he has “gone full tonto” over Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had been warned the latest intelligence suggests the Kremlin will order a full invasion at any time. And a US defence official said of Putin: “He is as ready as he can be. We’ve been saying any day now and it’s certainly possible that today is that day.”

Approximately 80 per cent of Russian forces are now in forward positions – meaning they are ready to invade if given orders, according to the latest US assessment.

A source said: “Putin can’t keep so many troops in the field much longer.”

Last night, the Ukrainian parliament approved the declaration of a state of emergency amid growing signs that it was veering closer to a full-blown war with its northern neighbour.

President Zelenskyy, below, also called up 250,000 reserve troops and the country’s foreign minister warned an all-out war would “throw us back to the darkest time of the 20th century”.