Boris Johnson labelled Russia’s shelling of a nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia on Friday as something that could “directly threaten the safety of all of Europe”. One of the power station’s six reactors caught fire after it was attacked by Vladimir Putin's army. While the reactor is under renovation, according to the power plant’s spokesman, it still contains nuclear fuel. Zaporizhzhia is the largest of its kind in Europe.
Speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the early hours, the PM vowed to seek an emergency UN Security Council meeting in a bid for a ceasefire. Downing Street described the situation in Zaporizhzhia as “gravely concerning”.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the PM’s office said: “Both leaders agreed that Russia must immediately cease its attack on the power station and allow unfettered access for emergency services to the plant. The Prime Minister said the reckless actions of President Putin could now directly threaten the safety of all of Europe. He said the UK would do everything it could to ensure the situation did not deteriorate further.
“The Prime Minister said he would be seeking an emergency UN Security Council meeting in the coming hours, and that the UK would raise this issue immediately with Russia and close partners. Both leaders agreed a ceasefire was crucial.”
Elsewhere, Ukrainian MP Vadym Ivchenko claimed his country’s government was collating examples of alleged war crimes by Russian forces including video footage and other types of evidence. Mr Ivchenko's statement came after the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor announced it had launched an investigation on Wednesday night into the situation following reports that Russian troops used cluster bombs and struck a nursery school and a hospital.
He went on to call for a humanitarian corridor to be established, saying that necessary aid was not reaching some areas.
Meanwhile, EU countries granted Ukrainian refugees permission to stay in a chosen nation for up to three years - a far more generous offer than the UK's scheme. The Mirror reported that the Temporary Protection Directive grants refugees automatic temporary residence in any EU country and access to education, healthcare, housing and jobs immediately for up to a year.
The scheme prevents refugees having to apply via long asylum processes and if the conflict continues their status could be extended for a further two years. More than one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion commenced eight days ago.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, meanwhile, is travelling to Poland to meet Ukrainians wishing to flee to the UK, having come under further pressure to do more to help people escape the war zone.
The Home Secretary will launch the Ukraine family scheme, allowing Britons and those settled in the UK to bring their relatives over to join them. The UK’s initial visa offer was restricted to immediate family but was widened on Tuesday to include parents, grandparents and siblings, with applications opening on Friday. A sponsorship scheme will also allow individuals and organisations to bring Ukrainians to the UK.
And Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is set to embark on an “intensive day of diplomacy” in Brussels to “tighten the vice around Putin’s war machine” following his “illegal, amoral and barbaric” invasion of Ukraine. Ms Truss is set to attend a series of meetings on Friday with foreign ministers from Nato, the G7 and EU, where she will seek agreement that the international community must “step up support for Ukraine”, the Foreign Office said.
She will attempt to “drive forward support” to reinforce the alliance’s eastern flank - a “deterrent” to further Russian aggression. The ministers will also discuss cutting European dependency on Russian oil and gas, with the Foreign Secretary calling on her counterparts to “embrace reliable partners rather than be dependent and beholden on any one country”.
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