Vladimir Putin launched a mass purge of 150 security officials last night as he prepared for a final military offensive in Ukraine. They are said to have filed reports that convinced Putin Russian troops would be welcomed as liberators and that Ukrainian forces would offer scant resistance. In the past seven weeks Russian forces have suffered a succession of defeats. The manoeuvre requires Russian troops moving north from the besieged port city of Mariupol to join up with units pushing south from Izyum. ‘The fall of Mariupol has been long predicted by many, yet still the Ukrainian forces there continue to fight bravely and effectively.
