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BORIS Johnson today branded “abhorrent” Vladimir Putin a war criminal and vowed to slap more sanctions on Russia.
The PM promised extra arms and support for Ukraine as the country’s ambassador received a rare standing ovation from MPs.
Speaking durng PMQs he pledged: “The vice is tightening on the Putin regime and it will continue to tighten.”
The PM told MPs: “Putin has gravely miscalculated in his abhorrent assault on a sovereign nation.
“He has underestimated the extraordinary fortitude of the Ukrainian people and unity and resolve of the free world in standing up to his barbarism.
“If Putin doubles down then so shall we, further ratcheting up economic pressure and supporting Ukraine with with finance, with weapons, with humanitarian assistance.”
Boris said the Kremlin’s shelling of “innocent civilians fully qualifies as a war crime” and its leaders will be held to account.
He also announced the Government is launching a new Ukraine aid fund and will match every £1 Brits donate, starting with a £20m injection.
Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the sanctions but urged the PM to go even further on clobbering Moscow with sanctions and providing military kit.
He told the Commons: “Putin thinks we’re too corrupted to do the right thing and put an end to it.
“Now is the time to sanction every oligarch and crack open every shall company so we can prove Putin wrong.”
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Labour has backed the Government’s tough stance on whacking Russian banks and businesses in a rare display of unity.
The exchange came after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned the increasingly frustrated Kremlin is poised to turn to more barbaric tactics.
Putin’s forces have failed “considerably behind schedule” and have failed to take any major cities almost a week after they launched the invasion.
They’ve been pegged back by courageous Ukrainian resistance and shambolic planning which has seen Russian troops start to run out of food and fuel.
Kyiv’s fighters, armed with top of the range British and allied weapons, say they’ve inflicted huge casualties on the invaders.
The country’s defence ministry says they’ve killed or captured almost 6,000 soldiers as well as knocking out 30 planes, 31 helicopters and 211 tanks.
Meanwhile the Kremlin is becoming ever more desperate for a win as Western sanctions bite with the country’s economy unravelling at record pace.
The ruble has crashed by more than 40% in just days, interest rates have doubled to 20%, and middle class Russians are scrambling for the exit door.
Mr Wallace said the crushing sanctions partly explain why the Russian army on the ground is struggling to achieve any of its major objectives.
Read our Russia – Ukraine live blog for the very latest updates
Mr Wallace, a former captain in the Scots Guards, said Russian generals had been “arrogant” about how quickly they could take over Ukraine.
And he warned having got “bogged down” they’re now likely to resort to targeting civilians to try and terrorise the country into submission.
The Defence Sec said: “The Russians have taken significant casualties, far more than they would have planned.
“There’s a huge amount of low morale in the Russian forces, we’ve seen lots of surrenders.
He said: “The international community has shown how very angry it is with what’s going on, both economically and from the military point of view.
“Those two things are one of the reasons why we see the Russian forces moving very slowly on its objectives. It is considerably behind schedule.
“They are taking casualties and they’re finding it very slow going. They’re not making the progress by a long shot of what they’d have hoped.”
“What they’re therefore doing is trying to switch tactics. They won’t come into the cities as much.
“They will, as we’ve seen tragically, carpet bomb cities indiscriminately. They’ll fly their air at night rather than in the daytime.
“And they’ll try and slowly but surely surround the cities and either bypass or bombard them. That’s the brutality we’re seeing and it’s only going to get worse.”
‘YEARS OF RESISTANCE’
He said the Russians will “try and break the people, which they won’t because the Ukrainians are tough”.
And he warned the Kremlin that even if it manages to take Kyiv it will be “looking at years of Ukrainian resistance”.
Britain and the US have both warned Moscow the war could last up to two decades and cause massive casualties.
Mr Wallace also suggested the brutal dictator will face increasing problems controlling his own people at home.
He said Putin “obviously doesn’t really care” about the crippling economic sanctions but ordinary Russians don’t want to live like North Koreans.
And he added: “When I went to Russia they were very clear that Russian people could suffer greater than mine, that we can’t be harmed by sanctions.
“There’s definitely a sense of pride that somehow Russian suffering equals Russian leadership.
“He’s about to be shocked because this is the 21st Century and Russian people don’t want to go through what they’re about to go through.”
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