Ukraine Warns Russia The Land Will Be Flooded With Their Blood If They Invade

UKRAINE - Ukrainian General Oleksandr Syrskyi spoke to Australia's Sky News and stated that they are "ready and capable and we will not give up a single meter of Ukrainian land without a fight" and that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, each meter of the land will be flooded with their blood.

The General estimates that there are about 120,000 Russian soldiers stationed near the Ukrainian border, though other estimates reported have been up to 130,000 military personnel along with tanks, artillery and equipment. He added that the number would rise to around 140,000 service personnel if Russia's Navy and Air force are included in the estimate.

The General said that his troops are starting military exercises North of Ukraine, near their shared border with Russian ally Belarus where Russia is also conducting military exercises with Belarus forces.

He also said that Ukrainian forces will be carrying out exercises in South Ukraine in addition, training with the new weapons given to their military by the United States and United Kingdom, countering airborne assaults.

When asked if the General had a message for the Russian soldiers on the other side of the border, he told Sky News, "The armed forces of Ukraine are ready. We are capable and we will not give up a single meter of Ukrainian land without a fight".

"We are ready, and we warn them: 'It won't be a simple walk in the park. Each meter of that land will be flooded with the occupant's blood" he added. "I trust in the Ukrainian service members. I trust in our armed forces and I trust in our victory".

When Sky News asked the General whether he trusts Russia who said that they would be pulling their troops from Belarus after their military exercises were completed, the General said "I don't know. I don't think that for the military there is a matter of trust".

"The armed forces have to maintain constant readiness to deter any type of armed aggression and protect the sovereignty of the country. It is impossible for us not to react to the concentration of Russian forces currently undergoing training up north along the Belarusian border".

"That is why we conduct our training up north towards the Belarusian border in order to make sure that we maintain high readiness for any type of scenario" he stated.

"Some of the exercises are not only conducted up north but also down south. We have planned the exercises for forces that support counter airborne operations. We have also improved reconnaissance in that area and strengthen cooperation with our partners such as the US navy".

Russia continues to build its forces surrounding Ukraine. Six Russian landing ships which includes the Minsk, Kaliningrad, Georgy Pobedonosets, Pyotr Morgunov, and Olenegorsk Miner has reached the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called British Foreign Minister Liz Truss "dumb and deaf" and walked away, leaving her standing at the podium alone during talks.

Before walking away and leaving her at the podium during the joint news conference with Liz Truss, he stated "I'm honestly disappointed that what we have is a conversation between a dumb and a deaf person...Our most detailed explanations fell on unprepared soil".

Lavrov's response was to Truss challenging his claims that Russia is not threatening anyone with the build up of its troops, tanks and artillery near the Ukrainian borders. Truss had stated "I can't see any other reason for having 100,000 troops stationed on the border, apart from to threaten Ukraine. And if Russia is serious about diplomacy, they need to remove those troops and desist from the threats".

"No one is undermining Russia's security - that is simply not true" Truss stated, saying that it was 'perfectly proper' for Ukraine to defend itself by seeking alliances. Lavrov said that Truss had not varied her tone during the meeting that lasted two hours, and said that she ignored his explanations the entire meeting while repeating statements and demands that the UK had made before already.

After that incident, the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that Russia's ties with Britain are at a low point while meeting with UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace for talks, saying that Russia's level of cooperation is "close to zero and about to cross the zero meridian and go into negative'

Segei Shoigu said "Unfortunately, the level of our cooperation is close to zero and about to cross the zero meridian and go into the negative, which is undesirable".

Shoigu said he had hoped for talks "without any escalation and raising the temperature even higher" regarding relations between Russia and NATO, but he accused the West of 'gorging' Ukraine with weapons. "It is coming from all sides and it is done publicly. It is done demonstrably. Not entirely clear why" he stated.

"They say Russia is waiting until the ground freezes like a stone so its tanks can easily cross into Ukrainian territory. I think the ground was like that today with our British colleagues, from which numerous facts that we produced bounced off".

Meanwhile, Russia Russia advised all 'non-essential personnel' of the 'diplomatic mission' in Ukraine to leave the country 'for a while'.

"When embassy employees are evacuated, when citizens of Anglo-Saxon countries are called in to leave the country faster ... By the way, we have already thought ourselves, maybe the Anglo-Saxons are preparing something if they evacuate their employees? We also looked at their actions and, probably, we will also advise non-essential personnel of our diplomatic institutions to go home for a while" Lavrov stated at a joint press conference with British Foreign Minister Liz Truss in Moscow, Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken put out a statement saying that an invasion on Ukraine by Russia could happen 'at any time', including during the Beijing Winter Olympics and urged Americans currently in Ukraine to evacuate the country immediately due to "increased threats of Russian military action".

The advisory states "LEVEL 4: Do Not Travel. Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action, those in Ukraine should depart now via commercial or private means".

Another Do Not Travel advisory stated "Level 4: Do Not Travel, for reasons including 'harassment against U.S. citizens, harassment by Russian government security officials as well as the 'arbitrary enforcement of local law' and 'increased tensions along the border of Ukraine'.

The U.S. Embassy stated that Russian officials have "unreasonably delayed U.S. consular assistance to detained U.S. citizens and have arrested U.S. citizens on spurious charges, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and have convicted them in secret trials and/or without presenting evidence. Click here for the full text of the Travel Advisory, for Russia".

The Canadian government has also Warned Citizens To Leave Ukraine Immediately as tensions in the region continue to heat to a boiling point.

US officials had stated that Russia has been planning to fabricate a pretext for an invasion, or a reason to invade Ukraine. After US officials stated that Russia was planning on creating a fake narrative as an excuse to invade, Russia conveniently came out with a report that they have found more than 130 Mass Graves of civilians on the territory of the so called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), who they claim died from Ukrainian aggression.

Is this the pretext that US officials warned of? Although there is no way to know for sure at this point, the article linked above reveals that their narrative is far too flimsy to be taken at all seriously.