Ukraine invasion ‘within days’

In a show of force, Russia yesterday test fired nuclear-capable missiles as the United States again warned that it believes Moscow plans to invade Ukraine within days or next week.

"As of this moment, I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that," US President Joe Biden said in televised remarks at the White House on Friday, adding that Washington has "significant intelligence capability" to back the claim. He said that targets would include the capital Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile arrived in Germany to shore up support among Western allies, despite a significant increase in shelling in the country's east in which a Ukrainian soldier was killed.

There were growing fears that only a spark -- which Washington warns could be a deliberate "false flag" incident created by the Russians -- might now be needed to set off the largest military confrontation in Europe since World War II.

The Kremlin insists it has no plans to attack its neighbour, which has angered Moscow by seeking closer ties with Nato and the European Union. Russia has announced a series of withdrawals of its forces from near Ukraine in recent days.

Russian television showed images of Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko sitting at a round table in the Kremlin situation room, in front of a bank of screens showing military commanders as they test-fired their latest hypersonic, cruise and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

Russia's defence ministry said the exercise involved nearly all branches of the armed forces, including its strategic rocket forces, as well the Northern and Black Sea fleets, which have nuclear-armed submarines.

The United States says there are at least 150,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's borders. With Russian-backed separatist forces in the east, the number rises to 190,000.

In a sign of division among allies, Germany's foreign minister yesterday warned against trying to guess or assume Russia's decisions on Ukraine.

"In crisis situations, the most inappropriate thing to do is to somehow guess or assume," said Baerbock, in response to a question on whether she shared Biden's assessment.

Meanwhile separatists in Ukraine declared general mobilisations in the two regions, calling up men to fight even as they announced mass evacuations of women and children into Russia.