The series of attacks by Russian forces on the Ukrainian town of Bucha “doesn’t look far short of genocide”, Boris Johnson declared today.
The Prime Minister used the word for the first time as he condemned scenes that have emerged of civilians killed and mass graves dug in the town near Kyiv.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister said on Monday that Ukrainian women "had been raped before being killed and the Russians tried to set [them] on fire to hide the traces of their crimes.”
Russia has claimed images from Bucha are faked. But Boris Johnson said: “I’m afraid when you look at what’s happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what Putin has done in Ukraine doesn’t look far short of genocide to me.
“It is no wonder people are responding in the way that they are.
"I have no doubt that the international community, Britain very much in the front rank, will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin’s regime.”
The UK has previously said Russia appears to be committing war crimes but has stopped short of describing the action as genocide.
That is because the UK sees genocide as something defined by a court of law. A Western official earlier this week said the UK is “legally purist” about the situation.
Western officials hope the International Criminal Court will be able to play the role of prosecuting war crimes in Ukraine.
Officials are doubtful about the possibility of setting up a separate Nuremberg-style war crimes tribunal, called for by Gordon Brown.
An official said that would require a UN Security Council resolution - which couldn’t get through because Russia has a veto.
That is despite 50 former heads of state and former prime ministers across the world backing calls for an international tribunal to try Vladimir Putin.
A petition supporting the move has topped 1.5 million, it was revealed on Wednesday.
Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, one of those calling for a tribunal, said there had to be a "clear path" to bring the Russian leader to justice.
Last week the United Nations human rights body appointed a commission to investigate accusations of war crimes committed in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and identify those responsible.
The UK, US and European Union are set to impose further sanctions on Russia in response to the atrocities committed during the invasion of Ukraine.
A further package of economic measures targeting Vladimir Putin's allies and the industries funding the war will be announced on Wednesday, while Nato foreign ministers will also consider how to support Ukraine's resistance to Moscow's forces.
The White House has indicated the US sanctions package will target officials and their family members - with reports suggesting Mr Putin's daughters Maria Vorontsova, 36, and Katerina Tikhonova, 35 will be hit by American and EU measures - as well as Russian banks and state-owned enterprises.
The European Commission has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia and a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks as part of its fifth sanctions package.
In London, a Foreign Office source said announcements would also be coming from the UK side.
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said economic actions so far were having a "crippling impact" and "pushing the Russian economy back into the Soviet era".
She said sanctions had frozen more than 350 billion US dollars (£266 billion) of "Putin's war chest", rendering unavailable over 60% of the regime's 604 billion US dollars (£459 billion) of foreign currency reserves.
She will join Nato counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's full meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers.
