Russia may try to split country, says Ukraine intel

Kyiv: Ukraine's military intelligence chief says that Russia could try to break Ukraine in two.

Kyrylo Budanov said in remarks released by the Defense Ministry on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has realised he can't swallow the entire country and would likely try to split the country under the Korean scenario.

That's a reference to the decades-old division between North and South Korea.

Budanov said that the occupiers will try to pull the occupied territories into a single quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine.

He pointed to Russian attempts to set up parallel government structures in occupied cities and to bar people from using the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia.

Budanov predicted that Ukrainian resistance will grow into a total guerrilla warfare, derailing Russia's attempts.

French President Emmanuel Macron has distanced himself from U.S. President Joe Biden's comment that Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. He is urging efforts to de-escalate tensions. Macron, who has spoken several times to the Russian president in so-far unsuccessful peace-making efforts, is due to speak again with Putin Sunday or Monday.

We should be factual and ... do everything so that the situation doesn't get out of control, Macron said Sunday on France-3 television, when asked about Biden's remark.

Macron said: I wouldn't use those terms, because I continue to speak to President Putin, because what we want to do collectively is that we want to stop the war Russia launched in Ukraine, without waging war and without an escalation.

He stressed that the U.S. remains an important ally, saying, We share many common values, but those who live next to Russia are the Europeans.

Macron said he will talk with Putin about a proposed humanitarian corridor for the besieged city of Mariupol, also discussed with Turkey and Greece.

The Ukrainian embassy in Ankara says a group of 159 Ukrainian orphans has arrived in the southern Turkish city of Antalya. The boys and girls aged 4 to 18 were evacuated from care homes in the Dnipro region, traveling first to Poland by train before flying to Turkey.

Welcoming the children and 26 care staff, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said the aim was to shelter 2,000 children and staff in Turkey. This is the first group to come but we are waiting for the second group, the Demiroren news agency quoted Bodnar as saying at Antalya airport. Children will come from cities that the Russian army has bombed or may bomb.

The group will stay in hotels in the Mediterranean resort.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Russia's National Guard on the sixth anniversary of its creation.

Putin specially addressed the service staff of the National Guard units involved in the military operation in Ukraine. Comrades, indeed, combat conditions involve increased risk. I am well aware of how you act in this situation: highly courageously and professionally, skillfully and fearlessly. You resolve the most complicated tasks set before you competently and precisely while showing personal heroism, Putin said in a video statement issued Sunday. The National Guard, which numbers over 300,000 personnel, was established by Putin in 2016 as an internal military force to fight terrorism and organized crime, guard state facilities, control weapons turnover and to provide riot control.