Boris Johnson today accused Vladimir Putin of using ‘barbaric and indiscriminate tactics’ against innocent Ukrainian civilians as he visited Poland.
As the invading forces escalated their attacks, the PM warned that the world was witnessing an ‘unfolding disaster’.
Speaking alongside Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw, Mr Johnson said the UK ‘stands ready’ to take refugees in ‘considerable numbers’ – later suggesting that could mean more than 200,000.
He also pledged to stay for the long haul, insisting Putin has ‘fatally underestimated’ the resolve of the West and Ukraine’s citizens under the leadership of ‘inspirational’ Volodymyr Zelensky.
The premier is heading on to Estonia after holding talks, as the UK pushes for sanctions to be ratcheted up again.
Mr Johnson said it was clear Putin is willing to ‘bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers’.
Heaping praise on Mr Zelensky he added: ‘I think he has inspired and mobilised not only his own people, he is inspiring and mobilising the world in outrage at what is happening in Ukraine.’
In a nod to criticism of the government’s visa offer to those fleeing Ukraine, Mr Johnson told Mr Morawiecki: ‘We stand ready, clearly, to take Ukrainian refugees in our own country, working with you, in considerable numbers, as we always have done and always will.’
In a speech in Warsaw afterwards, Mr Johnson said Putin is ‘tearing up every principle of civilised behaviour between states’ and Ukraine’s ‘spirit will not be broken’.
‘Putin has lied to his people and his troops about how this will go… and he has now been caught out in that lie.’
He added: ‘He has hurled his war machine on the people of Ukraine, a fellow Slavic country, he has bombarded civilian targets, fired rockets at blocks of flats, he is responsible for hundreds of civilian casualties including growing numbers of children.
‘And also, of course, for the deaths of many Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.
‘We must accept the grim reality that Putin will continue to tighten the vice and, if you go by the size and firepower of Vladimir Putin’s war machine, the odds have always been heavily against Ukrainian armed forces.’
Mr Johnson had ‘tripped and stubbed his toe’ on the fact that no matter how many troops and tanks he sends Ukrainians will want to be independent.
Speaking alongside Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw, Boris Johnson said the UK ‘stands ready’ to take refugees in ‘considerable numbers’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (pictured right in the Commons yesterday) will say Vladimir Putin (left) has ‘blood on his hands’ and urge the West to ‘isolate’ him further when she addresses the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
A view shows the regional administration building following the Russian rocket attack in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022
Boris Johnson arrived in Poland today and will head for Estonia later as he vows to exert ‘maximum pressure’ on the Kremlin
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will say Putin has ‘blood on his hands’ and urge the West to ‘isolate’ him further when she addresses the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva later.
In a round of interviews this morning, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab warned Putin could resort to ‘even more barbaric tactics’ as his campaign stalls, and insisted any war crimes must be pursued.
In a call with world leaders from the G7, Nato and the EU last night, Mr Johnson stressed the need for allies to continue to provide Kiev with defensive weapons.
He also said neighbouring countries will require support to deal with ‘large numbers of Ukrainians escaping violence’.
Mr Zelensky is said to be providing the PM with a ‘shopping list’ of military gear to fight the Russian advance in near-daily phone calls.
Mr Johnson is scheduled to visit British troops serving in Estonia, which shares a border with Russia, on his trip today.
Speaking before his visit to the two Nato members, Mr Johnson said: ‘Alongside all our international allies the UK will continue to bring maximum pressure to bear on Putin’s regime to ensure he feels the consequences of his actions in Ukraine.
‘We speak with one voice when we say, Putin must fail.’
In Estonia, Mr Johnson will hold talks with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
They will jointly visit British troops serving ‘on the front line of Russian aggression’ in Tapa, No 10 said, before meetings with Estonian PM Kaja Kallas and Estonian President Alar Karis to discuss security.
Mr Raab told Sky News: ‘Those that engage in war crimes will be held to account.’
He said it must be clear to ‘both to Putin but also to commanders in Moscow and on the ground in Ukraine that they will be held accountable for any violations of the laws of war’.
Voicing alarm at the prospects for escalation, Mr Raab said: ‘We know that Putin will react to this, or we fear that he will react to this, with even more barbaric tactics, that’s why we must be prepared that this could be a long haul.
The former foreign secretary added: ‘This is turning into a much, much more perilous misadventure for Putin than I think he realised and it has a demoralised effect on Russia forces and it has had the effect of steeling the will of the Ukrainian people.
‘That’s how we will ensure Putin fails in Ukraine and we’re there for the long haul.’
Meanwhile, Ms Truss is expected to tell the UNHRC that Mr Putin has ‘blood on his hands’ and has been ‘murdering Ukrainians indiscriminately’.
‘Putin is violating international law… he is violating human rights on an industrial scale and the world will not stand for it,’ Ms Truss is expected to say in a speech urging the West to ‘isolate’ Russia as a result of the war it has instigated.
Britain’s UN ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward told an emergency meeting of the Security Council last night that Ukraine is on the brink of a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’.
As Russia continues its assault on the eastern European country, Dame Barbara was among those at the UN to accuse the Kremlin of launching ‘indiscriminate attacks against men, women and children’ and violating international humanitarian law.
She said: ‘As a result of President Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a country of 44 million people is now on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.
‘Missiles have rained down on Kharkiv, with cluster munitions hitting residential areas and injuring residents. Disruption to supply chains has caused food shortages in Kramatorsk.
‘The reckless bombing of an oil depot in Vasylkiv, has unleashed toxic fumes in nearby communities.
‘Violence in Kyiv has forced people to seek refuge underground, with many thousands, including the elderly and disabled, unable to evacuate.’
The UK permanent representative to the UN told the Security Council that ‘hundreds of civilians had been killed as a result of the Russian invasion’ and seven million people had been displaced, with the figure ‘rising exponentially’.
Ukraine’s representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the council that Kyiv was ‘sitting within Russian crosshairs right now’ and that 352 people, including 16 children, had been killed as of Monday in the fighting.
He accused Moscow troops of attacking hospitals and ambulances in a determination to ‘kill civilians’, adding: ‘There is no debate. These are war crimes.’
But Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian UN permanent representative, said his country’s armed forces did ‘not have the goal of occupying Ukraine or harming the local population’.
resident Volodymyr Zelensky is said to be providing the PM with a ‘shopping list’ of military gear to fight the Russian advance in near-daily phone calls
The bombardment of Kharkiv continued Tuesday morning with a rocket landing just in front of the civilian public administration building, destroying the road outside and blowing the windows out of the building itself. Footage from inside shows the building was heavily damaged, with ceilings collapsing and rubble strewn around
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he plans to open an investigation ‘as rapidly as possible’ into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky echoed Mr Kyslytsya’s statements in an address late last night. In a video posted to social media, the leader said that in five days Russian forces had launched 56 missile strikes and 113 cruise missiles in Ukraine.
He added: ‘Today, Russian forces brutally fired on Kharkiv from jet artillery. It was clearly a war crime.
‘Kharkiv is a peaceful city, there are peaceful residential areas, no military facilities. Dozens of eyewitness accounts prove that this is not a single false volley, but deliberate destruction of people: the Russians knew where they were shooting.’
‘There will definitely be an international tribunal for this crime — it’s a violation of all conventions. No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people,’ he said.