PUTIN'S HELL FIRE
Russia ‘ready to unleash a fresh wave of terror’ in Ukraine by ‘bombarding civilians with white phosphorus’
RUSSIA is ready to unleash a fresh wave of terror by bombarding civilians with white phosphorus ahead of a second-wave onslaught to capture eastern Ukraine, it is feared.
The incendiary bombs, which burn through flesh at up to 2,700 degrees C, will be used in a desperate bid to conquer the besieged port city of Mariupol, British officials suspect.
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Up to 150,000 civilians are trapped inside the city where Ukrainian fighters have held out against relentless Russian assaults.
White phosphorus bombs have already been used over Kyiv and against troops in the east of the country, Ukrainian sources said.
And the UK’s Ministry of Defence warned tyrant Vladimir Putin’s previous use raised fears it could be employed again as fighting intensifies in Mariupol.
The city’s mayor, Vadym Boychenko, claimed more than 10,000 civilians had died and corpses “carpeted the streets”.
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Fears of more barbaric attacks came as Moscow appointed a ruthless new general to take charge of Putin’s bloodbath invasion.
Gen Alexander Dvornikov, who led Russian troops in Syria, was ordered to focus assaults on the contested Donbas region.
Western officials said Dvonikov, 60, was trying to double or triple the forces in and around Donbas ahead of the offensive.
But units are struggling to raise enough troops to replace devastating battlefield losses in the botched but deadly assault on Kyiv.
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Almost one in three Russian fighting units were no longer combat effective, officials revealed.
Ukraine warned the Donbas assault could start within days and urged civilians to flee.
But the Western sources said it would take “considerable time” for Moscow to get its units up to strength.
And they claimed morale among Russia’s frontline troops was at rock-bottom.
“We’ve seen numbers of troops being unwilling to fight and refusing to engage in operations,” one source said.
“It is still unclear how they’re going to overcome some of the morale issues that they will have with their troops.
“We know they’ve got problems with their command and control.”
An eight-mile convoy of Russian armour was spotted moving south through eastern Ukraine on Saturday.
It is part of a ploy to outflank Ukraine’s forces defending the Donbas front line and cut them off from behind.
Meanwhile, Mad Vlad’s Chechen henchman has called for him to launch nukes against British and foreign volunteers fighting in Ukraine.
Butcher Ramzan Kadyrov urged Russia to fire doomsday weapons to stop the West “laughing at us”.
The Chechen leader, 45, said: “Nato, the west are at war with us. This isn’t a joke.
'NUCLEAR STRIKE'
“I would declare, ‘If any mercenary comes to Ukraine we would go up to a strike with nuclear tactical at certain points.’
“So they do not mock us.”
Tactical nukes are designed to annihilate smaller areas than the intercontinental missiles which can take out entire cities.
Kadyrov’s bloodthirsty thugs have been blamed for some of the war’s worst atrocities.
His outburst came as Russia ramped up missile attacks across Ukraine, with a barrage of Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a warship in the Black Sea blitzing an airport in the central city of Dnipro.
Moscow claimed it wiped out a fleet of S-300 air- defence systems given to Ukraine by an unnamed EU ally.
Slovakia gave Ukraine an S-300 last week but denied it had been destroyed.
They have been pivotal in intercepting missiles and shooting down Russian planes.
At least 66 rockets blitzed Kharkiv, killing 11 civilians, officials said.
The city has faced non-stop shelling since it fought off a Russian tank assault on the first day of the invasion.
Russian heavy artillery pounded Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas yesterday but officials said Ukraine’s armed forces repelled a number of attacks.
Ukraine’s President Zelensky pleaded for more heavy weapons last night, insisting the next few days and weeks would determine the outcome of the war.
He said: “To be honest, whether we will be able to survive depends on this.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need.”
He said Mariupol had been “completely destroyed”.
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But he added: “Even despite this, the Russians are not stopping their offensive.”
Britain has sent Ukraine 6,000 anti-tank missiles and PM Boris Johnson pledged to send a fleet of kamikaze drones, 120 armoured vehicles and hi-tech anti-ship missiles to defend the Black Sea coast.
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