Putin has ‘crossed the threshold of barbarism’ with Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin has “already crossed the threshold of barbarism”, Boris Johnson has told ministers, as he faced calls to go further and faster in allowing Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK.

Pressure grew on the Prime Minister to act as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said almost 100,000 people remain trapped in the ruined city of Mariupol, facing starvation amid “constant” Russian bombardment.

In a video call, Mr Zelensky said civilians in the city faced “inhumane conditions, under constant shelling and under constant bombing”.

He estimated 100,000 civilians remain in Mariupol, the scene of some of the war's worst devastation, as Russia presses on with a nearly month-old offensive by bombarding cities and towns.

"We are trying to organise stable humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents, but almost all of our attempts, unfortunately, are foiled by the Russian occupiers, by shelling or deliberate terror," he said.

Mr Johnson told his Cabinet the West “should not hesitate to go further in strengthening sanctions and providing further defensive military aid to Ukraine”, in the face of increased aggression by the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK said yesterday the country needed more long-range antitank weapons from western allies.

Vadym Prystaiko told Sky News: “We didn’t have enough in the first place. So, we’re running out of weaponry.

“That’s what we’ll be seeing in the week to come.

“Tomorrow, President Zelensky will talk to Nato, the whole of Nato, and we will see how can we replenish our stocks and what we can have that has a much longer range and is stronger than ever.

“We have enough weapons to stop tanks immediately when they approach us.

“But to clear out our land we need to have something with a much greater distance.”

Nato's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg forecast the organisation’s leaders would approve major increases in its forces in eastern Europe at an emergency summit last night, saying four new battlegroups would be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

There has been reported evidence of significant bombing from the air at Mariupol and from ground artillery using “dumb” munitions, meaning more civilian casualties.

The Red Cross confirmed a humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach Mariupol had not been able to enter.

The convoy's attempt to deliver assistance came as Russian navy vessels joined in what have been weeks of Russian air and land strikes into Mariupol, US officials said.

One official said: “I think there is a grim reality around Mariupol with the kind of reckless and inhumane nature of the operation there.”

There are fears if the city does fall it will release Russian forces to join the offensive in the Donbas region in the east of the country.

Elsewhere officials reported the Ukrainians were managing limited counterattacks, destroying Russian equipment and capturing personnel, including a lieutenant colonel.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told Mps there was a“moral responsibility” to help Ukraine and impose sanctions on russia, but that it would not be “cost-free” for the UK economy.

Mr Prystaiko also defended Mr Johnson’s apparent comparison of the Ukraine resistance to Brexit at the Conservative Spring Forum in

Blackpool at the weekend. But he added the UK’S problems with the EU were incomparable to the Russian/ukrainian war.

“You believe you have problems with the European Union when you left, it’s not a problem,” he said.

“If you compare it to what we have with russians when we left the Soviet Union, they came to kill us for this decision.”

In the Commons, Mr Johnson was under pressure to speed up support for those fleeing Ukraine and heading for the UK.

York Outer Tory MP Julian Sturdy told Mr Johnson he welcomed the changes to the visa process to allow applications to be processed more quickly, but that the situation had intensified further since then.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “Our response must still move much, much faster, with a shift to processing applications in the UK, cutting the red tape and bureaucracy so we can match the scale of Europe’s worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.”

The Prime Minister said moving applications online had accelerated the process and it was the “instinct” of the UK to “be as generous as possible”.

Some 15,800 visas had been issued under the Ukraine family scheme as of 5pm on Tuesday, the Home Office said.

So far, there had been a total of 33,500 applications submitted, according to provisional data published on the department’s website.

It comes as a third extract of a hoax call between defence secretary Ben Wallace and an imposter posing as Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal was published on Youtube.

In it, Mr Wallace discussed previous desires for Ukraine to join the Nato defence alliance, an ambition that has riled the Russian leader.