Residents of the internationally unrecognised Donetsk “people’s republic” in Ukraine are being evacuated from the Russian-backed breakaway region despite Ukraine denying plans for an offensive. The US accuses Russia of manufacturing tensions as a pretext to invadeEconomic sanctions may not deter President Putin from invading Ukraine because he is “thinking illogically,” Boris Johnson has said. The prime minister said that “all the evidence” suggests Putin had decided to invade Ukraine, adding there were signs that his plan to launch an attack had “already in some senses begun”. SponsoredIt risked triggering the “biggest war in Europe” since the Second World War that would cause a “bloody and protracted conflict,” he warned. Last night four senior figures in government confirmed they expected a multi-pronged Russian assault to begin any day.

Source: The Times February 20, 2022 23:05 UTC