Russia's depraved leader Vladmir Putin "could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine", a senior Tory MP has warned.
Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee urged the Government to start rolling out sanctions "every day" on Russia to block Putin's political ambitions in Ukraine.
Making a statement hours before he ordered his troops to invade Ukraine, Putin said boasted of the "cutting-edge weapons" Russia had to hand.
He said in a TV address: "As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today’s Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states.
“Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country."
Mr Ellwood told BBC: "If I have a concern I would not put it beyond Putin to stoop to radical tactics to secure victory. He can't fail and the stakes are very very high indeed.
"We need to continue to support Ukraine not just with hard power but with humanitarian aid as well.
"We also put pressure on Russia. I don't think a day should go by when a new initiative isn’t announced.
"Today we've rolled out limits on Swift. Tomorrow all of Europe should send home Russia ambassadors back to Moscow.
"Let's invite Sweden and Finland to join Nato.
"For months we’ve been playing catch up. We must now start to control the agenda."
When pressed on what type of weapons he was referring to, Mr Ellwood added: "We've seen what he's done in Syria for example, he can certainly use other weapons systems which haven't been tested or that we're used to."
Mr Ellwood listed chemical weapons and said the worst case scenario would be low yield nuclear weapons as well.
Huge explosions lit up the sky early on Sunday near the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes as Russian forces struggled to gain movement in Ukraine.
Western officials believe Putin is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.
The UK, US and European Union have agreed to block selected Russian banks from the Swift global financial messaging system, which moves money around more than 11,000 banks and other financial institutions worldwide.
As part of a new round of sanctions aiming to impose a severe cost on Moscow they also agreed to impose ”restrictive measures” on Russia’s central bank.
Mr Ellwood admitted it would've been nice to see nations "rally together" in this fashion.
Putin sent troops into Ukraine after denying for weeks that he intended to do so. In the past few months he has built up a force of almost 200,000 troops along the countries’ borders.
He claims the West has failed to take seriously Russia’s security concerns about Nato, the Western military alliance that Ukraine aspires to join.
Putin has also expressed scorn about Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state.
