Ukraine crisis is one step from war

Russia is 'one step from war' with Ukraine, state TV has warned in the latest bout of sabre-rattling between Moscow and Kiev that has jangled nerves across Europe.
Dmitry
Kiselyov, a Russian news anchor who has been called a 'Putin propagandist' in
the past, issued the warning during a primetime broadcast in Russia on Sunday.
He
branded Ukraine a 'Nazi' state, saying that Russia may be forced to 'de-Nazify'
it buy force - a process he said would bring about its 'economic and military
collapse'.
Russia
is now thought to have massed more than 80,000 troops along Ukraine's eastern
border, including tanks, artillery pieces, armoured transports and support
vehicles - raising fears of an invasion.
Ukrainian
presidential spokesman Iuliia Mendel said today that 40,000 troops are now
stationed in Crimea with another 40,000 near the Donbass region where
Russian-backed separatists have been fighting government forces for years.
Meanwhile
Michael McFaul, who was America's man in Moscow between 2012 and 2014 when
Putin annexed Crimea, warned that Putin could invade Ukraine and bring war to
Europe in a 'worst-case scenario'.
He
said the current posturing in eastern Europe could easily spill over into
all-out conflict if Russia decides to attack on the pretext of 'liberating'
Russian-speakers in the east of the country who it considers citizens.
'If that happened the Ukrainian government
and the Ukrainian army would respond, I have no doubt that they would, and then
you would have a war in Europe between two very formidable armies,' he said.
In
the meantime, Russia has resorted to attacking Ukrainian President Zelensky
over the airwaves with state media painting him as the aggressor.
A
news report on Russia's Channel One likened Zelensky - a former actor - to
Napoleon after digging up images of him playing the part in an old TV drama.
The
Ukrainian leader was dreaming of 'Napoleonic ambitions' by hoping NATO would
come to his aid against Russia, the report said.
But
it was clear Zelensky was not evaluating himself 'sensibly'. Portraying
Napoleon on screen 'is not the same as doing it,' the report added.
Another
report labelled the ex-TV comedian Zelensky a 'commander-in-chief comic', a
'president of war' who was 'inciting' conflict.
Viewers
were told that Ukraine with NATO support, rather than Russia, was building up
military firepower close to Donetsk and Luhansk, which are controlled by
pro-Moscow rebels following a civil war in 2014 that has led to more than
14,000 deaths.
'Never before has there been so much
Nato military hardware in Ukraine,' claimed the report.
It
also highlighted alleged arrivals of US transport planes and Pentagon-leased
cargo vessels in strategic Ukrainian port Odessa.
These
claims could not be immediately corroborated.
Videos
have also shown tanks, mobile artillery, howitzers, armoured personnel carriers
and support vehicles being ferried to the front - many of which are being
massed at a camp near the city of Voronezh, around 115 miles from the border.
Mendel
added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has requested talks with
Putin over the troop buildup, but has not yet received a response.
Zelenskiy
will this week travel to Paris to discuss the rising tensions with European
allies.
Asked
by BBC Radio 4 how concerned world leaders should be by the situation in
Ukraine, Mr McFaul responded simply: 'Very.'