Russian President Putin May Declare ‘All-Out War On Kyiv’ On May 9: Report

According to the report, in a bid to salve “outrage” in the Russian military over failures during the invasion, top army officials in Moscow are claimed to be imploring Putin to announce the shift during an annual Victory Day parade on 9 May.

Moscow: Seeking “payback” for Moscow’s failures in Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin may soon drop the term “special operation” and declare all-out war on Ukraine, Russian and Western officials reportedly fear, according to Independent, a British publication. According to the report, in a bid to salve “outrage” in the Russian military over failures during the invasion, top army officials are claimed to be imploring Russia’s president to announce the shift during an annual Victory Day parade on 9 May.

The move would reportedly allow the Kremlin to enable martial law, and call on its allies for greater military help, to also drum up the mass mobilisation of its own population. Russian forces are believed to have so far made minimal gains during their renewed assault in Donbas, with the UK’s Ministry of Defence claiming Moscow has “been forced to merge and redeploy depleted and disparate units” from its failed earlier advances, the Independent’s report said.

Situation In Ukraine

Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations over shaky peace talks on Saturday, with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying chances were “high” that the negotiations – which have not been held in person for a month – would end because of Russia’s “playbook on murdering people”.

Ukraine also accused Russian troops of seizing grain crops from the war-torn country. Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister says Russian forces are seizing vast amounts of grain in territory they hold, while its president says the war-torn country is facing fuel shortages.

Ukraine is one of the world’s major grain producers and the Russian invasion has curtailed exports, pushing up world grain prices and raising concerns about severe grain shortages in importing countries.

Ukraine is also facing fuel shortages as Russia destroys its fuel infrastructure and blocks its ports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday night. Fuel shortages have been reported in Kyiv, Dnipro and other cities.

Zelenskyy promised that officials would find a fuel supply system within a week or two to prevent a deficit but called it a “difficult task” after the refinery at Kremenchuk was hit by a Russian missile. But, Zelenskyy said, “there are no immediate solutions.”