Fears were growing that Vladimir Putin’s forces have started using more heavy artillery to pound key cities in Ukraine – risking a greater civilian death toll.
Western officials believe Russian defence chiefs are launching more indiscriminate strikes on urban areas to prepare the ground for armoured and mechanized units to advance forward.
They are suspected of adopting these tactics after suffering setbacks in Mr Putin’s plans to invade Ukraine and swiftly seize control of the capital Kyiv and other key cities.
One western official stressed that he was very concerned at the increased used on Monday of artillery, rockets and tube artillery, being used in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv by Russian forces.
He told of fears that Russian frustration at having failed to achieve key aims five days into the invasion was leading to use of more indiscriminate fire, using these weapons, and that as a consequence more civilians would be killed.
Dozens of people were reported were reported to have been killed and hundreds injured in mass shelling and rocket strikes in Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Monday.
Armed forces have a responsibility to avoid civilian casualties, however, fresh attacks on Kharkiv and Kyiv- where explosions were heard on Monday evening after peace talks ended without a breakthrough - raised fears that desperation to seize at least one city was leading to this being ignored.
One western official said the concern to the Russian setbacks was a response going back to what he described as a traditionally Russian, even back through Soviet times, strategy of using massed artillery to create conditions whereby armoured and mechanized units could move forward more quickly.
Previously, this bombardment may have been launched against another army out in the country, but now given that this conflict was happening in urban areas there was a significant risk of civilian casualties.
The West is examining how to collate evidence of possible war crimes so the perpetrators can be brought to justice, even if it takes years. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Monday he plans to open an investigation "as rapidly as possible" into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova told members of US Congress Russia had used the thermobaric “vacuum bomb” weapon on Monday prohibited by the Geneva convention. She said: “The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large.”
It comes as the West continues to pile pressure on Putin to end its illegal invasion of Ukraine. Liz Truss announced fresh ecomonic sanctions on Monday while FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian football teams from competition, meaning the national side will not take place in this year’s World Cup.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from all international sport. Energy giant Shell exited all joint ventures with Kremlin-controlled oil firm Gazprom.
Russia’s military is being held up as up to 190,000 Russian military personnel had been deployed on Ukraine’s borders for the invasion, and around half of them are believed to have now entered the country.
But Vladimir Putin’s forces had failed to destroy the Ukrainian air defences on the first day of the invasion last Thursday, leaving the Russian air force including attack helicopters vulnerable to being downed, and slowing progress of ground troops.
His army had also been hit with problems in re-supplying troops and engineering units, to put up crossing where Ukrainians had destroyed bridges, had not been advanced enough to help ground forces take more territory.
Western assessment of the conflict so far puts Russian setbacks down at least partly to the military planning based on Mr Putin’s mistaken belief that his forces would be welcomed by many people in Ukraine as liberators reuniting their country with Russia.
This had led to an under-estimation of the will of the people of Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion.
Western officials believe the Russian president’s decision-making inner circle is very small, which means there are fewer people who may have been in a position to shape the invasion plan.
The Russian troops had stirred up a hornets’ nest, one western official said, and the capacity of the Ukrainian military had also been under-estimated.
The Ukrainian authorities are said to have made a smarter use of their military forces, dispersing them so they could ambush Russian troops with significant success.
They have also concentrated on defending cities, while giving up territory in the countryside, with urban areas more difficult to attack.
Mr Putin’s troops have made some progress in gaining territory in the south of Ukraine having crossed over from annexed Crimea.
But around Kyiv they had struggled to gain ground by Monday afternoon. They are believed to be resorting to heavy artillery bombardments while waiting to improve their logistics and force order to launch fresh attacks.
Mr Putin’s plan is believed still to be to encircle Kyiv and seize control of the capital as a primary objective, as well as to cut off Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
But his forces are thought to be significantly behind the Russian president’s original timetable for the invasion.
The Kremlin is also believed to have miscalculated the response from the West, with one official particularly praising Germany for the decisive action it is taking in halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and in providing weapons to Ukraine in a historic shift in policy.
Britain and other allies are continuing to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine.
Boris Johnson held talks on Monday afternoon with US president Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French president Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders.
Afterwards, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The leaders agreed that the valiant resistance to the Russian invasion we are seeing in Ukraine is truly inspirational. The Prime Minister stressed the need for countries to continue supporting the Ukrainian Government, including with the provision of defensive weapons.
“He also underlined the need for an international response to the emerging humanitarian crisis, including through supporting Ukraine’s neighbours to deal with large numbers of Ukrainians escaping violence in the country.
“The Prime Minister welcomed the unity of message and action between countries in recent days in response to Russia’s invasion. He stressed the need to continue applying pressure on Putin’s regime, including on SWIFT, with sanctions and with trade restrictions. The Prime Minister commended the progress over the weekend with all G7 countries agreeing to remove Russian banks from SWIFT.
“The Prime Minister also paid tribute to his fellow leaders’ renewed commitments to bolster the NATO alliance, including Chancellor Scholz’s pledge to massively increase Germany’s spending on defence.”
It comes after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the battle against Vladimir Putin’s invasion was in a crucial 24-hour phase amid claims that Russian troops had been ordered to seize a major city “at any price”.
The Russian President’s forces have failed so far to achieve key objectives to capture Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities after suffering a series of setbacks.
Faced by fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russian commanders have been ordered to take either Kyiv or Kharkiv, the two biggest cities, by Monday “at any price”, reported Russian VCHK-OGPU Telegram channel, which has close links to the security services.
The order was said to have been given despite the objection of Russia’s paratroop command, which feared a catastrophic bloodbath.
“The command of the airborne forces was against it, saying the price would be too heavy in terms of human losses,” said the report.
“The General Staff said it was taking on itself full responsibility for this decision.”
Mr Zelensky told Boris Johnson in a call Sunday night that “the next 24 hours was a crucial period for Ukraine”, according to Downing Street.
Amid reports of heavy losses by both sides as the conflict entered its fifth day, the Ukrainian President warned Russian soldiers to “save your lives and leave”.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, ahead of attending a meeting of Whitehall’s emergency Cobra committee, said the main Russian tank column moving toward Kyiv was still about 30km (18 miles) to the north-west, stressing: “It is slow in its advance, if not sometimes stationary.”
He also sought to allay fears of a nuclear conflict after Putin said he was putting his arsenal of such appallingly destructive weapons on higher alert.
He added that Britons should not be “unduly alarmed” by the Russian President’s nuclear threat, which sent a shudder around the world, emphasising it was a “big attempt to distract” from the failures in the Kremlin’s invasion plans in Ukraine.
He told LBC radio how his son had asked him about the prospect of a nuclear war. “Dad, says No, we are not going to have a nuclear war,” he said.
In other developments:
- The Foreign Office advised Britons against all travel to Russia because of the “lack of available flight options to return to the UK, and the increased volatility in the Russian economy”.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 16 children had been killed and 45 injured during the Russian invasion.
- Home Secretary Priti Patel ruled out a visa waiver for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, citing fears that Moscow’s troops and extremists could come to the UK, as she came under pressure to help more people reach safety in Britain.
- Transport Secretary Grant Shapps asked all UK ports to deny access to Russian flagged, registered or operated vessels.
- A missile struck a residential building in Chernihiv.
- At least 94 civilian deaths have been killed during the first days of the invasion, according to UN observers.
- Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials started on the border of Belarus, however, hopes of any significant breakthrough were low and the talks ended without a ceasefire. It is hoped fresh talks will take place soon.
- G7 and other world leaders agreed to “pursue every avenue to ensure that Putin fails” during a phone call on Monday afternoon, according to No 10.
- US citizens were being advised to consider leaving Russia immediately with the State Department citing an increasing number of airlines cancelling flights and countries closing their airspace to Russia. The UK Government is keeping its advice under review.
- Residents in the southern city of Odessa were pictured with Molotov cocktails waiting for Russian paratroops. But in Russia, the speaker of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin claimed Russian troops were being welcomed, saying: “What did we see in these four days? On one hand, support from an overwhelming majority, who understand what is happening and are doing all they can to ensure the success of the operation. On the other hand, there are those who start reasoning about peace.”
- Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine’s south-eastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax reported.
- Ukrainian officials denied the Russian claims that its forces had captured Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station — the largest in Europe.
- The EU stepped up its military support for Ukraine, including possibly fighter jets, a move which the Kremlin said was dangerous and destabilising.
- Ukraine’s defence ministry claimed more than 5,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the first four days of fighting in Ukraine, with 191 tanks, 29 fighter jets, 29 helicopters and 816 armoured personnel carriers destroyed. These figures could not be verified.
- The launch of a joint Europe-Russian mission to Mars this year is now "very unlikely" due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine, the European Space Agency said.
- Switzerland strayed from its history of neutrality to adopt EU sanctions against Russia, in a major step that will curtail the ability of rich Russians to store their wealth there.
- The sanctions imposed by Britain and allies appear to be having an impact, with the rouble sinking by nearly 26% against the US dollar by Monday morning.
-
Average UK petrol prices exceeded £1.51 for the first time after oil prices hit an eight-year high over concerns about the reliability of supplies.
