Ben Wallace today said the UK believes Vladimir Putin intends to invade the whole of Ukraine as the Defence Secretary jibed that Russia’s attack has not gone to plan.
Mr Wallace said it is ‘definitely our view that the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine’ but he claimed Moscow is ‘behind its hopeful timetable’ after encountering fierce resistance.
The Cabinet minister said Russia has already ‘lost over 450 personnel’ and it has ‘not taken any of its major objectives’, leaving Mr Putin behind schedule.
His comments came after Boris Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this morning, as the Prime Minister committed to ‘provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days’.
Downing Street said Mr Johnson had told President Zelensky that ‘the world is united in its horror at what Putin his doing’.
Mr Johnson last night held an emergency Cabinet meeting to update ministers on the crisis, telling his senior team that the invasion represented a ‘dark day in the history of our continent’.
The premier said the Russian President’s ‘cynical and brutal’ attack on Ukraine ‘must fail’.
Fresh strikes hit Kiev overnight amid warnings Russian forces are closing in on the capital.
The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said in a tweet just before 4am that ‘horrific rocket strikes’ hit Kiev in an attack he compared to the city’s 1941 shelling by Nazi Germany.
‘Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany,’ he said.
‘Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Sever all ties. Kick Russia out of (everywhere).’
The leaders of the 30 NATO allies nations are due to meet today to determine the West’s next steps against the Kremlin.
They are facing growing pressure to go even further than the sanctions announced yesterday.
Ben Wallace today said the UK believes Vladimir Putin intends to invade the whole of Ukraine as the Defence Secretary jibed that Russia’s attack has not gone to plan
Mr Wallace said it is ‘definitely our view that the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine’ but he claimed Moscow is ‘behind its hopeful timetable’ after encountering fierce resistance
The Cabinet minister said Russia has already ‘lost over 450 personnel’ and it has ‘not taken any of its major objectives’, leaving Mr Putin behind schedule
Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, in a move which represented Moscow’s most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
By the end of the day, the Ukrainian government said 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed.
Mr Wallace was asked this morning if he believes Russia is intent on taking Kiev and ousting President Zelensky’s government.
He replied: ‘It is definitely our view that the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine.
‘The nonsense they were spouting about the Donbas, as ever with a whole series of dishonest claims, are not the case and that is why you have seen a number of columns of Russian army entering from the south, from the north, from Belarus even and indeed from the separatist region.
‘But our assessment as of this morning is that Russia has not taken any of its major objectives, in fact it is behind its hopeful timetable, they have lost over 450 personnel and indeed as you have said on your report, one of the significant airports they were trying to capture with their elite Spetsnaz has failed to be taken and in fact the Ukrainians have taken it back.
‘So I think contrary to great Russian claims and indeed President Putin’s vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause, he has got that completely wrong and the Russian army has failed to deliver on day one its main objective.’
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement in the early hours of this morning which said ‘it is unlikely that Russia has achieved its planned Day 1 military objectives’.
However, the MOD said it is ‘highly likely’ Russian forces have captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant – 80 miles north of Kiev and along one of the clearest routes to the capital.
The MOD added: ‘The Ukrainian Armed Forces have reportedly halted Russia’s advance towards Chernihiv. Fighting probably continues on the outskirts of the city.
‘It is unlikely that Russia has achieved its planned Day 1 military objectives. Ukrainian forces have presented fierce resistance across all axes of Russia’s advance.’
Mr Johnson spoke to President Zelensky this morning ‘to express his solidarity with Ukraine’.
Downing Street said: ‘President Zelensky updated the Prime Minister on the most recent Russian military advances, including missile and artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities and the terrible developments in Kyiv in the early hours of this morning.
‘The Prime Minister assured President Zelensky that the world is united in its horror at what Putin his doing. He paid tribute to the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people in standing up to Russia’s campaign of violence, and expressed his deep condolences for those who have been killed.
‘The Prime Minister committed to provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days as the people of Ukraine and the world continue to demonstrate that Putin cannot act with impunity.’
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement in the early hours of this morning which said that ‘it is unlikely that Russia has achieved its planned Day 1 military objectives’
Mr Johnson convened a late night meeting of his Cabinet yesterday as he told ministers the invasion represented a ‘dark day in the history of our continent with Putin launching a cynical and brutal invasion for his own vainglorious ends’.
The PM said the UK ‘could be proud of the actions it has taken so far, playing a leading role in NATO’ and said the Ukrainian military was ‘fighting back in defiance of Putin’s attempts to subjugate Ukraine’.
Mr Johnson also highlighted protests in Russia against the invasion ‘which demonstrated that Putin’s actions would also face resistance from within his own country’.
Number 10 said: ‘The Prime Minister concluded by saying Putin must fail, and that the UK would work with its allies to achieve the restitution of the sovereignty of Ukraine.’
Mr Johnson yesterday unveiled ‘unprecedented’ sanctions against Russian banks, firms and oligarchs as he vowed to cripple ‘bloodstained aggressor’ Mr Putin.
The PM announced 10 separate strands of measures to inflict ‘significant’ impact on Moscow’s economy – with officials saying they should knock several percentage points off its GDP.
Mr Johnson told MPs Mr Putin was flouting ‘every principle of civilised behaviour’ and will ‘never be able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands’ – even though Ukrainians are ‘offering a fierce defence’.
He insisted the world now saw the Russian president for what he is: ‘A bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest.’
The assets of all major Russian banks – including VTB – will be frozen, while new legislation will block the state and all the country’s major firms from being able to raise money on London markets.
Mr Johnson pointed out that half Russia’s trade is currently in dollars and sterling.
The Government says over 100 people, entities and subsidiaries will be subject to sanctions, including defence giant Rostec. There will be travel bans and asset restrictions on five more named individuals – including Kirill Shamalov, Russia’s youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin’s daughter.
Sources swiped that they would no longer be able to shop in Harrods or send children to public schools, and had become ‘essentially persona non grata in every major Western capital’.
Ministers intend to put a fixed limit on how much Russian nationals can have in accounts in the UK. Aeroflot planes will be immediately prevented from landing anywhere in Britain, while crucial defence exports of semi-conductors and aircraft spare parts will end.
The PM is also committing to shut Russia out of the SWIFT international financial messaging system, although that still has to be thrashed out with other Western powers.
And the Government is aiming to extend all the measures to Belarus, which has joined Russia in the invasion.
Mr Johnson said it was ‘the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen’.
Officials said the UK was taking a ‘maximalist’ approach to sanctions and would look to go further where possible.
Some of the measures come in immediately, but others could take weeks and will need legislation.
