Russia may formally declare war on Ukraine on May 9

The US and Western officials say that Russian President Vladimir Putin may formally declare war on Ukraine on May 9, allowing the occupier to fully mobilize reserve forces in an attempt to  occupy eastern and southern Ukraine, CNN reports.

The media outlet says that to date, Russian officials have argued that the conflict was only a “special military operation” aimed at “denationalizing” Ukraine.

‘I would not be surprised… that he is probably going to declare on May Day that “we are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people”,’ Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Walllace said. 

“Putin, having failed in nearly all objectives, may seek to consolidate what he’s got… and just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country,’ he continued.

“We have to help Ukrainians effectively get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back,” Wallace added.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, also commented on the issue, saying “it’s a big irony if Moscow uses Victory Day to declare war.

Victory Day is a holiday that commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany back in 1945.