Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his country was a "shield" against Russia and deserved more support in the face of a feared invasion, as Moscow test-fired nuclear-capable missiles in a show of force.

Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky condemned "a policy of appeasement" towards Moscow.

"For eight years, Ukraine has been a shield," said Zelensky, who travelled to Munich despite shelling in his country's conflict-torn east that left two Ukrainian soldiers dead.

"For eight years, Ukraine has been holding back one of the greatest armies in the world," he added.

Zelensky called for "clear, feasible timeframes" for Ukraine to join the US-led NATO military alliance -- something Moscow has said would be a red line for its security.

But the Ukrainian leader also said he was willing to meet with Vladimir Putin, to find out "what the Russian president wants".

Western officials in Munich continued to raise the alarm about Moscow's intentions towards Ukraine, after US President Joe Biden said Friday he was "convinced" Putin planned to invade, including with an attack on the capital Kyiv, within days.

They again warned of enormous sanctions if Russia attacks, with US Vice President Kamala Harris saying this would only see NATO reinforce its "eastern flank".

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, however, warned against jumping to conclusions, toning down the rhetoric after Washington's fierce warnings of an imminent invasion.

"In crisis situations, the most inappropriate thing to do is to somehow guess or assume," Baerbock told reporters, after being repeatedly pressed on whether Germany shared Biden's assessment.

"We do not know yet if an attack has been decided on," Baerbock said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Zelensky also pushed back against Washington's dire predictions in Munich.

"We do not think that we need to panic," Zelensky told the audience of top-level officials and security experts from around the world.

- Strategic missile tests -

The increasingly fraught warnings of an invasion, intense clashes in Ukraine's east and the evacuation of civilians from Russian-backed rebel regions have further heightened fears of a major conflict in Europe after weeks of tensions.

The Kremlin insists it has no plans to attack its neighbour, but Moscow has done little to reduce tensions, with state media accusing Kyiv of plotting an assault on rebel-held pro-Russia enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

Saturday's exercises of strategic forces saw Russia test-fire its latest hypersonic, cruise and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

The United States insists that, with around 150,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's borders -- as many as 190,000, when including the Russian-backed separatist forces in the east -- Moscow has already made up its mind to invade.

Some of the Russian forces, around 30,000 troops, are in Belarus for an exercise which is due to end on Sunday. Moscow has said these forces will return to barracks, but US intelligence is concerned that they could take part in an invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has announced a series of withdrawals of its forces from near Ukraine in recent days, saying they were taking part in regular military exercises. It has dismissed western claims of an invasion plan as "hysteria".

But Putin has also stepped up his rhetoric, reiterating demands for written guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO and for the alliance to roll back deployments in eastern Europe to positions from decades ago.

- 'Dramatic increase' in clashes -

The volatile frontline between Ukraine's army and separatists in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk has seen a "dramatic increase" in ceasefire violations, international monitors from the OSCE European security body have said.

Hundreds of artillery and mortar attacks were reported in recent days, in a conflict that has rumbled on for eight years and claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people.

The OSCE said Saturday there had been 1,500 ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Lugansk in just one day.

Ukraine's army and separatist forces traded accusations of fresh shellfire on Saturday, with Kyiv saying two of its soldiers had died in a shelling attack, the first fatalities in the conflict in more than a month.

A dozen mortar shells fell within a few hundred metres (yards) of Ukraine's interior minister Denys Monastyrskiy on Saturday as he met journalists on a tour of the frontline.

The rebels declared general mobilisations in the two regions, calling up men to fight even as they announced mass evacuations of women and children into Russia.

Moscow and the rebels have accused Kyiv of planning an assault to retake the regions, claims fiercely denied by Ukraine and dismissed by the West as part of Russian efforts to manufacture a pretext for war.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denounced reports of Ukrainian shells falling on Russian territory as "fake".

Germany and France on Saturday urged their citizens to leave Ukraine.

Both German airline Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines said they would stop flights to Kyiv and Odessa from Monday until the end of February, but would maintain flights to western Ukraine.

Ukraine, Russian-backed rebels accuse each other of fresh attacks
Kyiv (AFP) Feb 19, 2022 - Ukraine's armed forces accused Moscow-backed rebels on Saturday of launching a huge new wave of attacks that have intensified fears of a Russian invasion of its western neighbour.

The joint military command for east Ukraine reported 66 exchanges of fire by 7:00 am (0400 GMT) -- a high number compared to recent stages of the conflict -- while the rebels called the situation "critical".

The statement said the rebels had resorted to using banned 82 and 120 millimetre-calibre mortar shells in towns across the front running in the eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

"There have been no losses among members of the armed forces as a result of the enemy's attacks," it said.

"The armed forces control the situation and continue to perform their mission to rebuff and contain the armed aggression of the Russian Federation."

Moscow formally denies being involved in the conflict and calls it Ukrainian internal affairs.

But monitors from the OSCE European security body have reported regular shipments of Russian weapons across the border throughout the eight-year war.

The OSCE reported a massive 870 ceasefire violations across the conflict zone in its latest report Friday, which referred to incidents on Thursday.

"In recent days, the OSCE Special Monitoring to Ukraine (SMM) has observed a dramatic increase in kinetic activity along the contact line in eastern Ukraine," the OSCE said in a statement.

Rebel leaders accuse the Ukrainian armed forces of trying to retake their two separatist regions by force -- a claim Kyiv denies.

The rebel leadership in Donetsk on Saturday called the situation "critical" and announced a "general mobilisation".

Th leader in the smaller separatist Lugansk region did the same about an hour later.

Ukraine rebel leaders announce 'general mobilisation'
Moscow (AFP) Feb 19, 2022 - The leaders of Ukraine's two breakaway regions announced a general mobilisation Saturday, spurring fears of a further escalation in fighting in the ex-Soviet country.

The announcements came after observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported a significant rise in attacks on the frontline in parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

The two sides accused each other Saturday morning of fresh attacks.

"I urge my fellow citizens who are in the reserves to come to military conscription offices. Today I signed a decree on general mobilisation," Denis Pushilin, the leader of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, said in a video statement.

The leader of the Lugansk separatist region, Leonid Pasechnik, meanwhile published a decree saying the measure in his region was signed to prepare for "repelling aggression".

Western leaders have for weeks raised the alarm over a build up of Moscow's army around Ukraine with Washington warning that an imminent attack could take place.

Pushilin claimed his region's forces had prevented attacks he said were planned by Ukraine security services, and that the Ukrainian army had continued attacks.

"Together, we will achieve for all of us the victory we desire and need. We will protect Donbas and all Russian people," Pushilin added, using the term for eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv has repeatedly denied any plans to regain control of separatist-held areas using force or of the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

More than 14,000 people have been killed in fighting between Ukraine's army and Moscow-supported separatists since fighting broke out in 2014.

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