Boris Johnson has pledged to send more defensive equipment to Ukraine and accused the Russian invaders of carrying out “barbaric attacks” on civilians in breach of ceasefires.
In a call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Sunday afternoon, the prime minister said support for those resisting the invasion was growing “every day”.
The pair discussed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, with Johnson directly blaming Russia for breaches of ceasefires meant to allow aid to travel through safe corridors to people stranded without water and food for days.
In a fresh indication that he believed Russian soldiers were committing war crimes, Johnson said they were posing an increasing threat to civilians – with residential tower blocks targeted by missiles.
Zelenskiy said he informed Johnson on the latest efforts to fight back, and that they both condemned “war crimes of Russia” and “nuclear terrorism” – a reference to the Russian army surrounding Ukraine’s biggest atomic plant, in the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia.
Downing Street said they discussed the “urgent needs” of Ukraine’s military, and that Johnson “undertook to work with partners to provide further defensive equipment”.
It came after Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, admitted it could take months or years for Putin to be defeated in his conquest of Ukraine.
He said people who thought the crisis could be resolved in days were “deluding themselves” and that Nato would need to “show some strategic stamina” in its effort to force the Russian army to retreat.
As the war in eastern Europe reached its 11th day, Raab said the Russian president, VladimirPutin, was resorting to “ever more brutal tactics to try and wrest back the initiative” given the military campaign run from Moscow had “stuttered”.
“I think the bottom line is none of the major cities have yet fallen,” Raab, who is also the justice secretary, told BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme.
“But I think we ought to be under no doubt that our mission with our allies is to ensure Putin fails in Ukraine, and it’s going to take some time.
“We’re talking about months if not years, and therefore we’ll have to show some strategic stamina because this is not going to be over in days.”
Raab rejected Ukrainian calls for a no-fly zone. He said it would provoke a more “direct military conflict” between the western defensive alliance and Russia, marking a “massive escalation” in tensions.
“That feeds Putin’s narrative,” Raab said. “Putin wants to say that he’s actually in a struggle with the west. He’s not. This is an illegal invasion of a neighbour whose self-determination, democratic and territorial integrity needs to be protected. We do not want to feed Putin’s narrative.”
Support local charities
There are several Ukrainian charities working on the ground. Sunflower of Peace is a charity that helps paramedics and doctors, and has been fundraising for supplies, which includes first aid medical tactical backpacks.
United Help Ukraine focuses on providing medical supplies and humanitarian aid, and raising awareness of the conflict.
Voices of Children aims to help children affected by the war in eastern Ukraine, providing support through art therapy, psychologists, video storytelling and a number of other methods.
The British Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal to help Ukraine. The charity will be updating its webpage with news on the work its team is doing, and how support will be used to help people.
Support local journalism
English-language news outlets based in the country, such as Kyiv Independent and the New Voice of Ukraine, are covering developments on the ground as the conflict unfolds, using local journalists. The Kyiv Independent says it was created by journalists in order to defend editorial independence. This site on Twitter covers many local journalists in Ukraine.
Write to your local MP
This can be a way to lobby the British government to place further sanctions on the Russian government and its associates. You can get in touch with your local MP via email or post to their constituency address. Instructions on how to get in touch can be found on parliament.uk.
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, admonished ministers for failing to heed warnings contained in the 2020 “Russia report” from parliament’s intelligence and security committee.
He said Labour MPs would support the economic crime bill’s passage through the Commons, which begins on Monday, but that he was frustrated the government was “going slowly and they they didn’t look at this months ago”.
Stressing the importance of unity, Starmer said: “These sanctions could actually be in place by now if the government had a bit of forethought on this. I don’t want to divide, other than to push the government further and faster on this.”
He added: “There’s echoes of Afghanistan, which is that the government really only begins to get its act together and respond in the heat of the situation rather than preparing for it beforehand.”
