Western leaders are bracing for a massive Kremlin escalation in its war against Ukraine as American citizens are recalled urgently from Russia.
They fear Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a strike inside Ukraine or an attack against western interests such as maritime communications cables and cyber war.
Spies in the UK and American believe there is very "credible intelligence” that Putin is preparing to escalate to try to turn the war in Russia’s favour.
The US embassy in Moscow has warned all citizens to leave Russia immediately by any means necessary and said dual nationality will not be respected by Putin’s officials.
There are fears dual nationals caught in Russia could be drafted into the war in Ukraine.
Officials: ”Russia may refuse to acknowledge US nationals’ dual citizenship, deny access to consular assistance, prevent their departure from Russia and conscript dual nationals for military service.”
Putin intends to land-grab all four contested regions following his sham polls in eastern Ukraine but is running out of military options in his failing war.
One fear is a tactical nuclear strike west of the four regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia creating a radiation dead zone to stop Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
Beleaguered Putin has run out of road and is now facing up to his disastrous war and the Russian population now realises their country has been massively outcast.
But it is possible Putin has used his controversial troop mobilisation of 300,000 ill-trained reservists as a distraction to con the west into concentrating on Ukraine.
And the massive breaches in Nord 1 and Nord 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea may have been a bigger indicator of his next move to try and leverage against western support for Kyiv.
Sources say the two massive leaks near the Danish island of Bornholm were possibly the result of Russian espionage committed by Moscow’s secretive submarine fleet.
Not only will the leaks cause a further hike in fuel prices throughout Europe but they could also serve as a warning of more underwater attacks against crucial Western communications cables.
One security source told the Daily Mirror: “Putin has almost run out of options which makes a tactical nuclear strike possible west of the four regions he is claiming.
“It is possible he believes this will be enough as a show of intent to get the west to back off, create a dead zone to halt the Ukrainian counter-offensive and claim victory in the east.
“He could dress this up as the original intention of his so-called “special military operation” even though it may have cost Russian families £60,000 dead soldiers plus all the deaths in Ukraine.
“But another possibility is an attack on the communication cables between the UK and America, many of which are European links to the States.
“Smashing these internet communication links could be very damaging to world financial markets, even though there are satellite links and contingencies.
“The Nord 1 and Nord 2 leaks could very possibly have been a warning to the west of Russia’s capability in attacking maritime cables with significant effect.
“And of course there is the possibility of more cyber attacks.”
Officials in the UK believe Putin is now beginning to understand the “colossal mistake” he has made against Ukraine.
The Kremlin is expected to annex four territories in the east of the country after the “sham” referendums on joining Russia.
It was denounced by western officials as a “panic” measure after reverses suffered by Russian forces in a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the country.
There is growing opposition to Putin after his announcement last week of a mobilisation, with an estimated 250,000 men having fled to avoid the draft.
The exodus comes on top of 400,000 thought to have left in the immediate aftermath of the invasion in February, including many of the country’s best-educated.
And the Russian economy has been smashed by sanctions.
Protests are spreading, with western officials saying they tracked 17 fires started at recruitment centres in the four days after the call-up.
One official said Russians now realise their country has suffered a humiliation.
The official said: “The mobilisation announcement means more and more Russians are coming to understand that they are being lied to.
“The elites know this is not going to plan. It is pretty clear that there is a lot of blame being thrown around.
"We have seen on state media comments about Putin being misled by senior military.
“I am not predicting we will see any imminent change. If you had asked me a year ago I thought we had this current team in power probably into the 2030s. I think that is much less clear now.
“Many people understand now Russia has been humbled by this colossal error.
“Western officials called on Putin to dial down his “deeply irresponsible” threats that any attack on Russian territory could be met with a nuclear response.
His words were interpreted as a warning to Ukraine not to try to retake the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia once they are incorporated into Russia.
Officials want a proper investigation into a series of explosions which hit Russia’s undersea Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines amid suspicions it was sabotage.
Tony Brenton, a former British ambassador to Russia, said recently and before Putin's latest escalation: "If the choice for Russia is fighting a losing war, and losing badly and Putin falling, or some kind of nuclear demonstration, I wouldn't bet that they wouldn't go for the nuclear demonstration."
British PM LIz Truss re-emphaised the UK will not accept Russian attempts to annexe parts of Ukraine in a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelenksy this afternoon to underline the UK's steadfast support in light of Russia's sham referendums in Ukraine.
"The Prime Minister made clear that the UK would never recognise Russian attempts to annexe sovereign territory.
"She reiterated that Ukraine could depend on the UK's support until President Putin was defeated."
