Ukrainian forces are “fully” prepared for war according to Russia’s spy boss, who warned “humanity’s existence” could be at stake if fighting begins.
For weeks it has been reported more than 100,000 Russian forces have been based on the border between the two countries, amid growing fears Vladimir Putin will order an invasion.
But Sergei Naryshkin, head of SVR foreign intelligence and a close ally of the Russian president, says Ukraine’s preparations for battle are in “full swing”.
He also accused the West of stoking the fires of war after transporting weapons and ammunition from the UK, US and Canada.
Naryshkin, head of the SVR since 2016, said: “Preparations are in full swing, they cannot be hidden.
“All combat-ready units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are concentrated on the border with Donbas”.
“There is a massive transfer of hundreds of tonnes of military equipment and ammunition from US bases in Europe, from Britain, and Canada.
“The contingent of advisers and instructors from NATO special forces is being increased.”
"Unfortunately, the Western world hasn’t yet come to realise how much the danger of growing mistrust among countries - and the collapse of the foundations of mutual security of countries - is threatening the existence of humanity.
“There is even information about the emergence of multinational units of jihadist militants.”
Mr Naryshkin described reports of possible Russian hostility as a “blatant lie”.
He added: “This blatant lie, and a very dangerous lie, began to spread from the other side of the Atlantic, and this lie was picked up in a number of Western capitals.
“The main threat to Ukraine is the internal Ukrainian armed conflict between the Kiev regime and the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics".
Russia’s counterintelligence agency, the FSB, has also detained dozens of young people over what it labels a Ukrainian plot over hundreds of recent bomb threats targeting in schools and colleges in Russia.
Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1 and Gazprom-Media owned NTV echoed Mr Naryshkin saying Ukraine is preparing for hostilities and massing offensive weaponry.
Rossiya 1 alleged Ukrainian forces had "deployed multiple-launch rocket systems near the contact line” and artillery in Donbas.
British defence secretary Ben Wallace will hold talks with his Russian opposite number Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, a day after a tense meeting between foreign secretary Liz Truss and Vladimir Putin’s senior diplomat Sergei Lavrov.
Russian state media later attacked Truss , indicating Moscow’s irritation about her uncompromising warnings on the Kremlin’s military buildup and her threats of sanctions in the event of invasion.
Igor Korotchenko, a pro-Kremlin military commentator, told Rossiya 1: ”If you turn up for serious negotiations, with serious people like the Russian Foreign Minister, the patriarch of international diplomacy, you have to be, at least from an intellectual viewpoint, a bit more at the same level as Lavrov. We didn't see it.”
Other media dubbed her “tankistka”, a female tank driver, after her recent photo-opportunity in Estonia in a British tank.
Pro-Kremlin TV anchor, Vladimir Solovyov, asked: “Why did this lady from the UK come at all? To take her [fur] hat for a stroll?”
