A BOMBSHELL new map spotted on the wall behind Putin’s generals has revealed a chilling clue to his next bloody landgrab in Ukraine.
The map shockingly marks two extra chunks of Ukraine as Russian territory – more than ever seen before on Kremlin diagrams.
ReutersThe map, left, was hanging behind Valery Gerasimov, centre, the Kremlin’s top general[/caption]
AFPThe map claims another massive section of Ukraine as Russian[/caption]
GettyPutin aspires to redraw the border to cut off Ukraine’s entire Black Sea coast, it seems[/caption]
Kremlin maps had already claimed four regions of Ukraine as part of Russia since 2022 – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
But in a recorded military briefing from inside Moscow‘s Ministry of Defence, the “border” has moved again – creeping even further into Ukraine.
The new map has the extra regions of Mykolaiv and Odesa as parts of Russia.
The supposed border can clearly be seen, marked with a thick line.
In reality, none of the six regions now bundled up with Russia are totally under Putin’s control.
But the expansion on the map of could suggest that Putin is plotting to seize the two new areas.
Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, said the map “likely reflects Russia’s military objectives in Ukraine (covering half the country, including Kharkiv and Odesa)”.
The clip was released on August 30 by the Russian defence ministry to state-run news sites.
It’s no secret that Putin prizes the major Black Sea port of Odesa.
He said in his annual address last year: “The whole southeast of Ukraine has always been pro-Russian, because these are historically Russian territories.”
Vlad added: “Turkey knows this well. The entire Black Sea coast went to Russia as a result of the Russo-Turkish wars.
“What does Ukraine have to do with this? It has nothing to do with it. Neither Crimea, nor the entire Black Sea coast in general.
“Odesa is a Russian city. We know this. Everyone knows this.”
If the newly-drawn borders were to become reality, Russia would have snatched Ukraine’s entire Black Sea coast.
ReutersPutin had offered to freeze the frontline if the whole of the Donbas was handed over – but the appears to have been a ploy[/caption]
GettyPutin launched strikes on Kyiv last week, killing dozens of civilians including children[/caption]
It would also give them a whole new international border – with Moldova.
The land-grabbing ambitions exposed by the map rail against what Putin has been saying in peace negotiations.
In last month’s Alaska summit, Putin reportedly suggested freezing the frontline if Ukraine handed over the remaining chunk of the Donbas.
Kyiv is clinging onto a well-fortified strip dubbed the “Fortress Belt”.
But now, it can be assumed that Putin’s ambitions do not in fact end at with the Donbas border.
The the tyrant last week had his foreign ministry trot out a list of impossible demands, including Ukraine’s total disarmament and the country cutting all military ties to the West.
Press chief Maria Zakharova said: “We proceed from the assumption that the agreement must include demilitarisation, denazification, neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status for Ukraine.”
She also ranted that Kyiv had to cave in on “protection of the rights of the Russian language and the Russian-speaking population, and an end to persecution of canonical Orthodox Christianity”.
The hardline ultimatum has been authorised by Putin knowing that Mr Zelensky cannot agree to leave his nation defenceless against further land grabs with no Western backing.
Putin is still stalling following appalling strikes on Kyiv, killing dozens of civilians including children and hitting the building of the British Council.
The dictator’s official spokesman Dmitry Peskov also made it clear that Putin has no intention of sitting down with Zelensky any time soon.