Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday asked Ukrainians not to panic amid reports of a possible Russian invasion.
“There is too much information in the information space about a Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are not afraid of anyone, without panic, everything is under control,” he said in reaction to claims in Germany and the United States that Moscow was set to attack Ukraine on Wednesday.
“We take all this information into account. We are grateful for this information. But we must clearly analyse any information, assess the risks,” the Ukrainian president added.
US President Joe Biden urgently arranged a telephone call with Vladimir Putin yesterday in a bid to prevent war.
German newspaper Der Spiegel, reported that the US Secret Service, CIA and the Pentagon had received intelligence of an ‘exceptionally detailed’ invasion plan, scheduled for February 16.
The plans were passed on to Biden’s government and discussed in a series of secret briefings with NATO allies.
They are said to contain specific routes that might be taken by individual Russian units and detail what roles they might play in the conflict.
The White House confirmed that Biden and Putin would discuss the crisis on the phone yesterday – just hours after thousands of Brits and Americans were warned to get out of Ukraine while they still can, as tension reached boiling point.
The warning came amid fears that Putin could launch an ‘aerial bombardment’ of Kiev, risking a high civilian death toll.