A top security expert has predicted that Russia will go "all the way" in their invasion of Ukraine and may not stop there.
A former director for Russia at the National Security Council believes Putin is looking for “regime change” and will likely go all the way and invade the rest of Ukraine.
Jeffrey Edmonds told CNBC: "I think given the size of the force, the rhetoric we’ve heard about Ukraine overall and its statehood, I think you’re going to see him [Putin] go all the way."
He added: "What you’re seeing right now is a lot of false flag operations. These claims… [that] the people on the East are having to fight back this onslaught of Ukrainian offensives, which just isn’t true.
"This is the pretext he’s trying to create so that when he actually invades the rest of Ukraine, that’s his reason for going in."
And in a chilling prediction, the security expert doesn't expect it to stop there, adding: "He’s had these territories since 2014, so just moving more troops in there, I don’t think gets him what he wants."
The President of Ukraine has said his country have been "left alone" to fight Russia.
"We have been left alone to defend our state,” Volodymr Zelenskyy said in a video address early on Friday morning.
"Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.
"Today we have lost 137 of our heroes, our citizens. Military and civilians" he added.
