We need blood, cries Ukraine chief as Putin rides in on rockets and shells

Hours into the devastating Putin invasion of the Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the world ‘we need help’ and ‘we need blood’.

President Zelensky had already said he would give guns to every Ukrainian who wants them to help fight back against the Russian attack. He begged every fit military-aged man to join the defence of their country.

But after Putin’s forces invade with rocket attacks and shelling his cry for help went out.

Terrified Ukrainians had been woken by shell attacks as fierce fighting began.

elensky has also told people to spread accurate information about the crisis.

His words came as a Western intelligence official warned the conflict could spread further into Europe.

The official, who asked not to be named, said: “Let’s not be blind. If Russia initiates a scenario of any kind it will also initiate action against Nato members.

“To think war could be contained to one nation would be foolish.”

On Tuesday, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said: “The significance of the worst scenarios in terms of a full-scale invasion would be on a scale not seen in Europe since the Second World War”.

Oil prices immediately surged past $100 (£74) a barrel after the invasion news to hit their highest level for more than seven years.

Russia is the second biggest exporter of crude oil, and is also the world’s largest natural gas exporter.

The price of oil topped $103 a barrel, and the RAC warned that UK petrol prices were set to rise further. However, the UK only gets 6% of its crude oil and 5% of its gas from Russia.

Earlier Putin said he was recognising the independence of two self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

The breakaway regions were seized by Russian-backed rebels after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Mr Putin launched that attack after mass street protests in Ukraine that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Since then more than 14,000 people have died in conflict with Ukraine.

Kyiv and its Western allies have always rejected Putin’s claims that Ukraine was being run by neo-Nazis, saying Ukraine was now a nation with growing democratic institutions.

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