A Ukrainian soldier on top of his APC on the front line position near Kharkiv, Ukraine (AP)
(Picture: AP)Russia is seeking to split Ukraine into two separate nations, a Ukrainian intelligence chief has warned.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, said Vladimir Putin is seeking to split the nation as he drew parallels with the splintering of Korea after World War Two.
“In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine," Budanov said.
He predicted Ukraine’s army would push back Russian forces.
“In addition, the season of a total Ukrainian guerrilla safari will soon begin. Then there will be one relevant scenario left for the Russians, how to survive," he added.
It comes as a separatist leader in eastern Ukraine called for a referendum to be held in his region on joining Russia.
Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, said it could hold a referendum “in the nearest time" asking voters whether they support making the region a part of Russia.
Russia has supported separatist rebels in the region, and nearby Donetsk, since an insurgency erupted there in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea.
Moscow says the goals for what Putin calls a “special military operation" include demilitarising and “denazifying" its neighbour.
Ukraine and its Western allies calls this a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
The invasion has devastated several Ukrainian cities, caused a major humanitarian crisis and displaced an estimated 10 million people - nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s total population.
In a late-night television address on Saturday, Zelensky demanded that Western nations hand over military hardware that was “gathering dust" in stockpiles, saying his nation needed just 1% of NATO’s aircraft and 1% of its tanks.
“We’ve already been waiting 31 days. Who is in charge of the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it really still Moscow, because of intimidation?" Zelensky said, suggesting Western leaders were holding back on supplies because they were frightened of Russia.
In its latest military assessment, the British Ministry of Defence said Russian forces appeared to be concentrating their efforts on encircling Ukrainian troops directly facing separatist regions in the east.
"The battlefield across northern Ukraine remains largely static with local Ukrainian counterattacks hampering Russian attempts to reorganise their forces," the ministry said.
