Russia will continue carpet-bombing Ukraine’s cities to “break” them in a slow siege of brutality, Britain warned today.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said built-up areas will be targeted “indiscriminately” and “tragically” in the escalating war.
He said Vladimir Putin "seems to know no limit to how much violence they will use", adding: “They will slowly but surely try to surround the cities and then either bypass them or bombard them.
“And that is the brutality that I’m afraid we are witnessing, and it’s going to get worse.”
Last night a US official told CBS News Kyiv is set to be surrounded in a week - but it could take four to six weeks for Russian troops to take the city.
There was a standing ovation in the US Congress, where President Joe Biden said “dictator” Putin “has no idea what’s coming” in his State of the Union address.
The UK Ministry of Defence warned Russian artillery and air strikes continued in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv overnight.
More than 660,000 civilians have now fled and the UNHCR said 136 civilians were killed - including 13 children - up to yesterday.
But President Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defence Secretary Mr Wallace refused Ukraine ’s pleas for a no-fly zone.
Mr Wallace warned it could lead to nuclear war across the whole of Europe.
The Defence Secretary said NATO forces shooting down Russian jets would trigger Article 5 of NATO in which all 30 member countries must come to the defence of one under attack.
“The triggering of that Article 5 would lead to a war against Russia across the whole of Europe. That is not a position that members of NATO are prepared to go,” he told Sky News.
“The question is how far does Europe want us to get towards a war across Europe with Russia.
“How far does the British public want us to go against a nuclear-armed power who may view escalation of all means.
“So I think we have to be realistic here.”
Mr Wallace said Britain has been at the forefront of trying to get Ukraine into NATO - which needs all 30 nations’ support - and trained troops there.
But he added: “I’m afraid I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to put at risk the rest of Europe by triggering a major, potentially, war across the whole continent.”
He went on: “People who suggest a no fly zone should be really clear what they’re trying to achieve and how it will be enforced. Because I don’t see them actually coming up with any logical details behind it.”
Mr Wallace said Russia will “carpet-bomb”, “slowly surround” and “bombard” Ukrainian cities in an act of “brutality”.
He said Ukrainians are putting up a strong resistance, with unverified reports of drones being used to take out Russian convoys.
Of the Russian troops, Mr Wallace told Sky News: “What they are therefore doing is trying to switch tactics.
“What you’re seeing now is those heavy bombardments at night. They won’t come into the cities as much - they will, I’m afraid, as we’ve seen tragically by the looks of things, carpet-bomb cities - indiscriminately in some cases.
“They will fly their air at night rather than daytime because what we’ve seen is they get shot down in the daytime.”
He said the Russian doctrine “is to get harder and tougher and more indiscriminate” in an attempt to “break” the population.
But he warned that would not be the end, and in months a “resistance force” could emerge like in Chechnya, Afghanistan or Iraq.
“Invading a country with overwhelming force is one thing - occupying a people of 44million who don’t want you in it is a very different thing,” he told the BBC. He added: "I take a view that for every day of fighting the Ukrainians do is a year of resistance.
"Once you’ve stood up and pointed your rifle and defended your own sovereign nation, you can’t rub that out with ‘re-education’… that resistance lasts forever.”
The MOD this morning said Russian forces have reportedly moved into the centre of Kherson in the south, but “overall gains across axes have been limited in the past 24 hours. This is probably due to the a combination of ongoing logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”
Mr Wallace said “we’ve certainly seen the deployment” of weapons systems like cluster bombs or vacuum bombs.
A vacuum bomb - thermobaric weapon - sucks in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion that is capable of vaporising human bodies.
Despite Ukraine saying vacuum bombs have been used, Mr Wallace said “we haven’t verified the use” of them yet and will collect evidence for any war crimes trial.
He added: “Russians were saying we don’t want to be North Korea. But if they’re not careful, the long term effect on the Russian government will be isolation.”
US lawmakers stood, applauded and roared, many of them waving Ukrainian flags and wearing the country's blue and yellow colours, as Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union speech overnight.
The US President announced a further ratcheting up of sanctions on Moscow, joining the EU and Canada in banning Russian planes from US airspace.
"Let each of us if you're able to stand, stand and send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world," Biden said.
"Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn't respond. And, he thought he could divide us here at home… Putin was wrong. We were ready."
But in an embarrassing gaffe, the US President appeared to mix up Ukrainians with Iranians.
He said: “For our fellow Ukrainian-Americans, who forged a deep bond that connects our two nations, we stand with you.
“Putin may circle Kyiv with tanks, but he’ll never gain the hearts and souls of the Iranian people.
“He’ll never extinguish their love of freedom, and he will never weaken the resolve of the free world.”
