A defence analyst has suggested that Vladimir Putin could make progress after Russia fired their “apocalyptic war” missiles on Saturday.

Professor Michael Clarke said that if Russia are “going to make any real progress” then they will have to “unite their forces” in the south and north of Ukraine, he told Sky News.

The defence analyst said Putin would need to move his troops to surround the city of Poltava “to encircle the Ukrainian forces.”

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Clarke said, “If that encirclement starts to take place, the Ukrainians have either then got to decide to move westwards to actually save themselves, to live, to fight another day and presumably to defend Kyiv.

“But if they do that, they’ll give up in the defence of a lot of the cities along this border. So it’s a very difficult thing for them to decide,” but they are “making hard work of it.”

Clarke said the Kinzhal “Dagger” hypersonic missile that Russia says it fired on Saturday travels between five and 10 times the speed of sound.

He added, “That means that you can’t defend against it.

“You can’t see it. You can’t prepare for it. They seem to have used it against an underground facility in the area of Ivano-Frankivsk region.

“These missiles were developed for the prospect of apocalyptic war between the superpowers.

“This the first time it’s ever been used. It’s been tested before.

“Well, it was used yesterday in a David and Goliath contest somewhere in Eastern Europe.”