Putin needs 'some sort of victory' by May 9 to mark anniversary Ukrainian MP

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Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun has raised intelligence reports which point to pressure on Putin to snatch some sort of victory from the invasion in Ukraine. The Kremlin is believed to be demanding tangible results from the Russian military by May 9, the annual Victory Day in Russia. 

Ms Sovsun told Sky News Australia: “We’re getting more and more rumours from the intelligence and  I think it’s now official that Putin will need some sort of victory for May 9, which is believed to be the victory say in The World War Two in Russia.

“So they probably will try to recapture or capture the rest of the Donbas region.

“That is why many of the troops that are moving out of key region right now, they will probably end up in Donbas, and they will try to capture at least some territories there.

“So that by May ninth they will have some victory to claim here in Ukraine.”

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It comes as Ukraine’s foreign minister called on the G7 on Sunday to impose “devastating” new sanctions on Moscow and accused Russia of carrying out a deliberate “massacre” in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv.

Ukraine said on Saturday its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv and the mayor in Bucha, a liberated town 23 miles northwest of the capital, said that 300 residents had been killed by the Russian army.

“We are still gathering and looking for bodies, but the number has already gone into the hundreds,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, according to his ministry.

“Dead bodies lie on the streets. They killed civilians while staying there and when they were leaving these villages and towns,” Mr Kuleba said.

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Moscow has previously denied Ukrainian allegations that it has targeted civilians or carried out possible war crimes.

Mr Kuleba called on the International Criminal Court to visit Bucha and other towns around Kyiv as soon as possible to gather evidence.

“I urge the International Criminal Court and international organisations to send their missions to Bucha and other liberated towns and villages of the Kyiv region, in cooperation with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, to thoroughly collect all evidence of Russian war crimes,” the ministry quoted him as saying.

“If I used to say that I will make every effort to bring the perpetrators to justice, now I am convinced that this is a matter of my life, which I will do until my last breath, until they are all held accountable,” he said.

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Mr Kuleba said his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, is an “architect” of Russian aggression and he will bear responsibility for possible war crimes committed in the region.

Asked on Times Radio whether he feels it is possible for the two nations to reach a peace deal, Mr Kuleba said: “I’m very calm and focused on bringing Russia to account and everyone involved in committing these crimes, from the soldier who rapes a Ukrainian woman and killed her to his commanders in chief and the political leadership of Russia who ordered all this to happen.

“That list, by the way, includes my Russian counterpart, foreign minister Lavrov, who is one of the architects of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“I’m saying this in a very cold, focused and unbiased way, this is just a statement of fact. If you commit a crime, you will bear responsibility for that, and my job and the job of everyone who cares for the rule of law and human rights will be to ensure that it happens.”

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