Vladimir Putin’s forces are resorting to “mass extermination of civilians” after his “Blitzkrieg” plan to capture swathes of Ukraine within days failed, one of the country’s top diplomats said on Monday.
As horrific footage, photos and reports were coming out of Ukraine of families, children and other civilians being killed by Russian attacks, Ukraine’s ambassador to London Vadym Prystaiko asked Britain to keep sending more military equipment including anti-tank weapons which he stressed were being used to destroy Russian tank columns.
Writing for The Standard, he warned: “Make no mistake: Ukraine and the whole world are facing a ruthless, barbaric enemy that is driven by extreme hatred.
“There is no reasoning or bargaining with it; it can only be stopped by force.”
He also repeated calls for the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a move Nato leaders have ruled out amid fears it would spark an even worse war.
Mr Putin’s troops have besieged and bombarded several cities and towns now for days after a suspected plan to seize Ukraine’s capital Kyiv within days got derailed by a series of military blunders, including poor logistics and under-estimating resistance.
Mr Prystaiko said: “It soon became apparent that Russia had achieved little success on the ground. Putin’s Blitzkrieg against Ukraine has fallen through, and the invaders now stand little chance of subduing Ukraine in the long run.
“To make up for their gross errors in judgement, the Russians have resorted to intimidation and mass extermination of civilians. They use indiscriminate and destructive weapons to shell our cities and towns, causing an acute humanitarian disaster.”
Urkrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich described a “catastrophic” situation in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, where efforts to evacuate residents on Sunday failed.
About eight civilians, including a family, were killed by Russian shelling in Irpin, according to Mayor Oleksander Markyshin.
Video footage showed a shell slamming into a city street, not far from a bridge used by people fleeing the fighting. A group of fighters could be seen trying to help the family.
Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons tweeted: “The Russian invasion of #Ukraine is more and more a callous, calculated, deliberate assault on civilians.”
Hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians are now feared to have been killed in the conflict.
The Defence Ministry in Moscow said on Monday morning that Russia’s military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities, after fighting halted the weekend evacuation efforts and civilian casualties from Russia’s invasion mounted.
But even as Russia announced that the ceasefire had started morning and the opening of humanitarian corridors in several areas, its armed forces reportedly continued to pummel Ukrainian cities, with multiple rocket launchers hitting residential buildings.
Russian forces continued their offensive, opening fire on the city of Mykolaiv, 300 miles south of Kyiv, Ukraine’s General Staff said Monday morning.
Rescuers said they were putting out fires in residential areas caused by rocket attacks.
Shelling also continued in the suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity, water and heating for three days.
“Russia continues to carry out rocket, bomb and artillery strikes on the cities and settlements of Ukraine,” the General Staff said. “The invaders continue to use the airfield network of Belarus to carry out air strikes on Ukraine.”
Mariupol in the south has been besieged and pounded by artillery for days, with no running water or electricity, and families who had sought to flee were forced to turn back after comng under fire.
Footage from the eastern city of Kharkiv also showed some of its streets obliterated.
Mr Prystaiko warned: “The war has now entered an uglier phase, with innocent civilians the main target of attacks. Countless Ukrainian lives have been lost, and the world is horrified by the images of dead and wounded women and children. The war has produced 1.5 million refugees so far.”
He added: “At Ukraine’s request, the International Criminal Court has opened a case relating to Russia’s war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during this war. Putin and his cronies will be brought to justice.”
He stressed that Ukrainian forces were still fighting against “the odds” with most of up to 190,000 Russian troops which had been massed around the country’s borders now believed to have joined the invasion.
“The main challenge is to counter Russia’s savage campaign of artillery and air strikes on Ukrainian cities and other civilian targets,” added Mr Prystaiko.
“That is why Ukraine is urging its Western partners to secure a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Such a bold scenario would prevent further human suffering, yet it would not automatically lead to direct hostilities between NATO and Russia.
“We also need prompt supply of more weapons for Ukraine. British-provided NLAWs have stopped many columns of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles; these are now a household name in Ukraine. However, we certainly need more, especially of modern air-defence and anti-tank systems.”
America is considering an arms deal which would see Poland supply Ukraine with ageing Soviet-era combat jets from its own fleet, which would be replaced by US aircraft.
Mr Prystaiko also called for tougher sanctions on Russia, including an embargo on Russian oil and gas which would have a major impact on the Russian economy, but also on those of many countries in the West.
But Mr Prystaiko emphasised: “Make no mistake: Ukraine and the whole world are facing a ruthless, barbaric enemy that is driven by extreme hatred. There is no reasoning or bargaining with it; it can only be stopped by force.”
His strong words came as Boris Johnson was set to begin a week of intense diplomatic efforts with foreign leaders to strengthen the united front against Putin’s regime, beginning with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at Downing Street on Monday.
Mr Johnson was expected to put more pressure on international leaders to take further action to remove Russia more fully from the Swift payment system, while pushing them to back his six-point plan to tackle Russian aggression.
