Boris Johnson has condemned Vladimir Putin as “barbaric” after civilians attempting to flee the invasion of Ukraine were killed by Russian shells.
Families escaping from their homes with suitcases and pets were “bombarded” with shells as they attempted to leave the city of Irpin, outside Kiev.
One family of four, including two young children, were among those reportedly killed in the attacks, after they were pictured lying bloodied in the street as Ukrainian soldiers attempted to save them.
In two other cities, Russian forces again broke ceasefire agreements by attacking humanitarian corridors in two other Ukrainian cities.
A barrage of Russian missiles destroyed a civilian airport in Vinnytsia on Sunday, said Volodymy Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. He pointed out that the area in central Ukraine was some distance from the Russian and Belarussian borders and has so far escaped heavy attack.
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Failures to observe ceasefire agreements were blamed for hundreds of thousands of civilians being trapped inside the besieged cities of Volnovakha and Mariupol over the weekend. A second attempt to evacuate Mariupol was abandoned on Sunday, due to continued Russian shelling.
Doctors fought to save the lives of wounded children, as pharmacies ran bare and residents forced to seek shelter from the attacks faced food and water shortages in freezing weather.
The attacks on civilian routes out of besieged cities were widely condemned by Western nations. In a nearly 1,300-word essay in the New York Times, Mr Johnson warned that the invasion was “sinking further into a sordid campaign of war crimes and unthinkable violence against civilians”.
The Prime Minister spoke to Mr Zelensky on Sunday about the “increasing threat Russia’s barbaric attacks pose to Ukrainian civilians”. He “underlined the UK’s determination to ensure Putin fails”, Downing Street said.
Ukrainian officials said that the attacks were carried out by “animals”. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said it was part of a “terroristic plan” by Putin.
The condemnation was echoed by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, who said that Russian abuses in Ukraine “would constitute a war crime”.
In a telephone call with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, Putin instead blamed the attacks on the government in Kyiv, claiming that “Ukrainian nationalists” prevented civilians and foreign citizens from leaving the cities.
However there is mounting unrest in Russia. OVD-Info, an independent protest monitoring group, said it had documented the detention of at least 4,366 people in protests in 56 different cities across Russia on Sunday.
Mr Johnson is preparing to hold talks with world leaders on Monday as part of a week of intense diplomacy.
The Prime Minister has laid out his six-point plan for defeating Putin. It includes mobilising an “international humanitarian coalition”, providing more defensive equipment to Ukraine and supporting non-Nato countries like Moldova and Georgia, which are at threat from the “Kremlin playbook”.
Putin must fail and must be seen to fail in this act of aggression.
We must come together under a six point plan of action to ensure Putin fails in his ambitions.
The world is watching. It is not future historians but the people of Ukraine who will be our judge. pic.twitter.com/mHm0cKAc4H
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 6, 2022
Britain could raise its defence spending as soon as this month, as the Ministry of Defence plans to review its military upgrade based on the failings of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, warned that the West would require “strategic stamina” in its response to Moscow. Even though sanctions have “put the squeeze on Putin”, the conflict is likely to drag on for “months, if not years”, the Justice Secretary warned.
Mr Johnson has called for further sanctions on Russia, as Mr Blinken confirmed that the US and its allies were having a “very active discussion” about banning the import of Russian oil and natural gas.
Britain will also pledge an extra $100 million to the Ukrainian government to help it pay public sector salaries, fund welfare and keep critical state functions operating.
Mr Johnson said that “while only Putin can fully end the suffering in Ukraine”, the funding “will continue to help those facing the deteriorating humanitarian situation”.
Professor David Crane, former chief prosecutor of the United Nations special court, noted that the international community is uniting against the Russian president, as he warned that “Putin and his henchmen will be brought to justice”.
Prof Crane’s Global Accountability Network of lawyers and academics is compiling a list of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces for its clients which include the International Criminal Court. The evidence will also be provided to the United Nations and any independent court or tribunal constituted under international law.
The allegations include “crimes of aggression, war crimes and crime against humanity” and include the killing of civilians, use of banned weapons and attacks on schools, hospitals and a nuclear plant.
Prof Crane – who prosecuted Charles Taylor, the Liberian president, for war crimes and is due to give evidence to the US Congress this week on how to take action against Putin – told The Telegraph: “There are literally thousands of violations that have been committed in the last week.”
He said that “each one of them can be charged if they can be proven”, but prosecutors are likely to analyse them and charge the most serious examples.
The head of the UN’s refugee agency said the invasion had triggered the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have reportedly crossed into neighbouring countries in the space of 10 days.
The UK Government is facing calls to do more to help, with about only 50 refugees granted a visa so far.
Less than one per cent of the 5,535 people who have submitted online applications have been given the green light to come to Britain under the Ukraine Family Scheme. Labour and SNP MPs said the figures were “shameful” and “disgraceful”.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said the scheme had only been open 48 hours. She said she was “surging” staff to application centres across the EU and insisted the Government was “doing everything possible” to speed up the visa process for refugees.
The Prime Minister will meet Justin Trudeau and Mark Rutte, his Canadian and Dutch counterparts, in London on Monday. Leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will travel to the UK later this week to discuss the humanitarian crisis occurring on their borders.
