Putin was recently shown speaking to grieving Russian mothers of Russia’s war dead in what appeared to be a carefully choreographed event

Ukraine is warning the West that Vladimir Putin is planning a massive offensive as the anniversary approaches of a year since his disastrous campaign against his smaller neighbour.

The Russian President has been subjected to unprecedented internal criticism despite scapegoating his generals over the battering his forces have taken on the battlefield.

Now in what looks like an increasingly desperate move, he is reportedly amassing up to 500,000 poorly trained mainly conscripted troops in the hope that the sheer size of the force will overwhelm Ukraine’s smaller army.

Striking now would also be advantageous since Ukraine has yet to take delivery of tanks and other heavy artillery agreed last week by Germany, the United States, and a number of other nations.

Russia conscripted an estimated 300,000 soldiers last year and sent many of them into battle with less than two weeks’ training, and poor proper equipment, leading to criticism as reports came through of deaths and desertions.

Earlier last week NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that “more than 200,000” Russian soldiers are “preparing for more war”.

Ukraine defence minister Oleksii Reznikov, however, pus that figure at nearer 500,000. He added: “We do not underestimate our enemy. Officially they announced 300,000 but when we see the troops at the borders, according to our assessments it is much more.”

Leopard 2 Battle Tank

Putin, meanwhile, went on the offensive against Germany over its decision to provide Leopard 2 battle tanks to the Ukraine, and allow other countries to re-export them to assist in the war effort.

In a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, when Nazi Germany and its allies successfully took the City, with an estimated two million casualties, the Russian President claimed history was repeating itself.

“It’s unbelievable but true,” he said. “We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks.”

Speaking in Volgograd – the modern name for Stalingrad – Mr Putin blustered that that his forces may move beyond conventional weapons.

“Those who hope to defeat Russia on the battlefield do not understand, it seems, that a modern war with Russia will be very different for them,” the 70-year-old leader said. “We are not sending our tanks to their borders, but we have the means to respond. It won’t be limited to the use of armoured hardware. Everyone must understand this.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to elaborate on Mr Putin’s comments but did tell reporters that “as new weapons are delivered by the collective West, Russia will make greater use of its potential to respond”.

Berlin has agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, prompting the Russian company Fores – a Urals-based energy industry firm – to offer five million roubles (£58,250) to the first Russian soldier to destroy or capture one.

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  • Dennis Rice

    National Security News (NSN) welcomes the appointment of Dennis Rice, former Chief Reporter of the Daily Express and Investigations Editor of the Mail on Sunday, as its Launch Editor. He brings with him three decades of experience covering national and international news, which has also included a stint working as a producer at Channel 4 Dispatches. Commenting on his new role, Dennis said: “NSN is a digital platform which exists purely to break stories and uncover new twists and exclusives around existing ones. Whether it’s reporting on the cloak and dagger world of espionage, cyber terrorism, subversion, or intelligence we are very much looking forward to giving the existing media a run for its money.” Dennis Rice is a veteran investigative journalist who has finished as a runner up in Journalist of the Year category at the British Press Awards. He also worked as Investigations Editor of the Mail on Sunday, Chief Reporter of the Daily Express, and as a senior journalist at the Sunday Mirror and the News of the World. His Dispatches credits include working as a producer on How To Stop Your Nuisance Calls (an expose on charity fundraisers) and Murder in the Sky: Flight MH17 (reporting on the crash of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down over the eastern Ukraine). While at the Mail on Sunday he wrote a series of articles which resulted in the resignation of BP Chief Lord Browne, and earlier David Blunkett as the then Work and Pensions Secretary. In 2011 he was paid damages at the High Court after his former employer the News of the World admitted hacking his phone.