The humanitarian situation in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is worsening and 160,000 people are trapped there without water or other essentials, while fighting and airstrikes continue.
That's the grim assessment being made by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) this morning. In an intelligence update issued at 5.35am this morning, the MoD said: "Heavy fighting and Russian airstrikes have continued in the encircled city of Mariupol. The humanitarian situation in the city is worsening.
"Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender."
Gordon Brown wants Putin war crimes trial
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has backed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's call for Vladmir Putin to be put on trial in a war crimes tribunal. Mr Brown believes that the Russian president and those in his inner circle could be charged with the crime of aggression.
He told BBC2’s Newsnight: "I believe he could be indicted very quickly because the evidence is clear about him planning, preparing and executing an invasion. It is what we had to do in Rwanda, we had to do it in relation to Liberia.
"We did it in relation to other countries as well in Yugoslavia. You could be putting out an arrest warrant, not just for Putin but for a lot of his inner circle who have been collaborating with him in these deeds."
Boris Johnson directs appeal at Russians to download VPNs to witness war atrocities
Boris Johnson has issued a direct appeal to the Russian people to reject President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, which he called a “stain” on their country’s honour. In a video message posted online, the Prime Minister urged Russians to download VPNs to enable them to circumvent the Kremlin’s media controls and see for themselves the atrocities being committed in their name.
His intervention came after President Volodymyr Zelensky used a dramatic address to the United Nations Security to accuse the Russians of the “most terrible war crimes” since the Second World War. The Ukrainian leader called for the creation of a special tribunal along the lines of the Nuremberg tribunals used to try leading Nazis to bring those responsible to justice.
The Kremlin responded by claiming images of civilians said to have been killed by Russian soldiers in the town of Bucha were “fake news” having been staged by the Ukrainians themselves. However, the UK Ministry of Defence said analysis of satellite imagery from March 21 – when the town was still occupied by the Russians – showed at least eight bodies lying in a street.
In his message, Mr Johnson said: “Your president knows that if you could see what was happening, you would not support his war. He knows that these crimes betray the trust of every Russian mother who proudly waves goodbye to her son as he heads off to join the military.
"And he knows they are a stain on the honour of Russia itself. A stain that will only grow larger and more indelible every day this war continues. Your president stands accused of committing war crimes. But I cannot believe he’s acting in your name.”
Truss wants more sanctions against Russia
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has reaffirmed her intention to use a two-day meeting of Nato and G7 ministers starting on Wednesday in Brussels to press for further sanctions against Russia. US officials said they expected to see co-ordinated measures by Western allies including a ban on all new investment in the country.
Other measures are expected to include new restrictions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, and sanctions on government officials and their family members. Following talks in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Tuesday, Ms Truss said economic actions so far were having a “crippling impact” and “pushing the Russian economy back into the Soviet era”.
She said the West has 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. But she said they must do more by cracking down further on Russian banks and “going after industries that are filling Putin’s war chest, like gold, and agreeing a clear timetable to eliminate our imports of Russian oil, coal and gas”.
We're fighting a Nazi regime, argues Ukrainian MP
A Ukrainian MP has called for the “denazification of Russia” and for images of the nation’s alleged war crimes to be “shown on Russian television every single day”. Inna Sovsun, the deputy leader of the Holos party, said Russia is committing genocide following the “terrifying” attack on the city of Bucha.
"They’re killing us, not as individual human beings, but because we’re Ukrainians," Ms Sovsun told the PA news agency. "That is an act of genocide (and) I understand it will take effort to prove that, but we shall not stop until we prove it.
"Hatred to one nation because of simply belonging to the nation and killing because of that hatred is an act of genocide… that is what the whole world needs to know. These could have been random acts of cruelty on the side of the Russian soldiers – but it was not, it was fed to them that they have to hate Ukrainians – that Ukrainians are not equal human beings.
"This is the Nazi state, this is what we’ve been trying to tell the world for a month now… the whole world needs to step in. Denazification of Russia, that is what we need."
Britain to send ambulances to Ukraine
Britain is to send surplus NHS ambulances to Ukraine to replace vehicles destroyed in Russian attacks, the Government has said. The Foreign Office said NHS trusts are expected to donate around 20 ambulances, with the first vehicles due to arrive in the country this week.
They include four ambulances being provided by the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “The UK has been among the biggest aid donors, providing food, medicines and generators to help those affected. These world class NHS ambulances will now help bring lifesaving care directly to those injured in the conflict.”
Under the NHS’s national ambulance service fleet strategy, vehicles are taken out of service and replaced after five years. Decommissioned ambulances are normally kept back for resilience, given to approved charities or sent to auction.
Zelensky to make historic address to Irish Parliament
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to make an historic address to the Irish Parliament later today. Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said he expects Mr Zelensky to “emphasise the brutality” of the conflict when he addresses the Dail and Seanad in a joint sitting.
"Certainly, my conversation with the Ukrainian foreign minister earlier this week was a very sobering and difficult conversation," Mr Coveney said. He added that the government would keep further expulsions of Russian officials from Ireland under consideration, but added that keeping diplomatic efforts open was "important".
Mr Zelensky has addressed a number of national parliaments, including the House of Commons last month, as well as the US Congress, and last week spoke virtually at the Grammy Awards.
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