The Duchess of Cornwall gave a ‘substantial’ donation to the Mail’s refugee appeal last night after an emotional meeting with British-based Ukrainians.
On the day Vladimir Putin was accused of genocide, Camilla visited the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London and told the wife of the country’s ambassador: ‘We are praying for you.’
She was in tears for much of the time speaking to representatives of the UK’s 70,000-strong UKrainian community about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in their home country.
The duchess has now made a private contribution to the Mail’s record-breaking refugee appeal, with the total raised now in excess of £2.5million just four days after the campaign launched.
Her spokesman said last night: ‘No one could fail to be moved by the appalling scenes of Ukrainians fleeing their homes and the duchess wanted to help in whatever way she could.’
The appeal is the fastest newspaper fundraiser of all time.
The Duchess of Cornwall gave a ‘substantial’ donation to the Mail’s refugee appeal last night after an emotional meeting with British-based Ukrainians
On the day Vladimir Putin was accused of genocide, Camilla visited the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London and told the wife of the country’s ambassador: ‘We are praying for you’
Camilla was accompanied on her visit yesterday by her husband Prince Charles, who paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary bravery and fortitude’ of the Ukrainian people in the face of ‘such truly terrible aggression’.
It is understood that he has made personal donations to two charities he is patron of, the British Red Cross and World Jewish Relief.
Putin was accused of ‘a full-scale genocide’ after he unleashed a blitz of missile and rocket attacks on cities across Ukraine yesterday.
In the conflict’s bloodiest 24 hours so far, thousands of civilians were feared to have been killed with alleged war crimes happening ‘almost hourly’.
Residents endured relentless attacks on their neighbourhoods with some regions suffering 14 hours of non-stop bombardment and ‘colossal destruction’.
At an emergency session of the UN general assembly, Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said of the Russian invasion: ‘They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist. It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.’
The assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution calling for the withdrawal of all occupying forces, with 141 in favour and just five against.
In other developments:
- Roman Abramovich announced he was selling Chelsea Football Club, saying that ‘net proceeds’ would go to a charitable foundation to support ‘all victims of the war in Ukraine’;
- Boris Johnson said ministers were working to publish a ‘full list of all those associated’ with the Putin regime, many of whom are likely to face UK sanctions;
- Downing Street warned legal firms they could face penalties if they frustrated efforts to sanction Putin cronies;
- The Mail Force charity is back in operation, meaning readers who want to use Gift Aid can now swell their appeal donations by 25p for every £1 they give;
- Author Barbara Taylor Bradford issued a powerful warning about ‘monstrous tyrant’ Putin as she donated £20,000 to our appeal.
- There were reports of a Russian rocket strike near Kyiv’s central rail station where thousands of women and children were being evacuated;
- A ‘full-scale genocide of the Ukrainian people’ was feared to be underway in the southern port of Mariupol with hundreds of people feared dead;
- Russia claimed to have seized control of its first major city so far, Kherson, though this was strongly disputed;
- The northern city of Kharkiv suffered an intense bombardment, likened by a Ukrainian official to the siege of Stalingrad in 1942-43;
- At least 2,000 civilians were estimated to have died so far;
- Top US diplomat Antony Blinken called Putin’s ‘provocative’ nuclear rhetoric ‘the height of irresponsibility’;
- Defence Secretary Ben Wallace again ruled out the idea of Nato enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, suggesting it could be counter-productive;
- Questions mounted about the appetite of ordinary Russian soldiers for the conflict as some troops allegedly fled their posts, while the Russian ministry of defence admitted at least 498 had been killed
Mr Johnson yesterday told MPs: ‘What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin’s regime in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view, already fully qualifies as a war crime.’
The duchess has now made a private contribution to the Mail’s record-breaking refugee appeal, with the total raised now in excess of £2.5million just four days after the campaign launched
Her spokesman said last night: ‘No one could fail to be moved by the appalling scenes of Ukrainians fleeing their homes and the duchess wanted to help in whatever way she could’
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall speaks to British Ukrainian school children during a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London
Camilla was accompanied on her visit yesterday by her husband Prince Charles, who paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary bravery and fortitude’ of the Ukrainian people in the face of ‘such truly terrible aggression’
The UK and 37 allies last night announced they had ‘referred atrocities in Ukraine’ to the International Criminal Court – the largest referral in the court’s history.
In the Commons, MPs put on a rare show of unity, giving the Ukrainian ambassador an unprecedented two-minute standing ovation when he arrived to observe Prime Minister’s Questions.
But Mr Johnson came under pressure to move faster to sanction Russian oligarchs with links to the Putin’s regime before they can dispose of their assets.
His spokesman told reporters that possible war crimes were occurring ‘almost hourly’ in Ukraine, including the targeting of apartment blocks and the Russian attack on the Kyiv Holocaust memorial at Babyn Yar, scene of one of the biggest single Nazi massacres of Jews.
‘Obviously, formally it will be for a criminal court to make that ruling but I think no one can be in any doubt that what we’re seeing daily, almost hourly now, are horrific acts that would certainly appear to be war crimes,’ the spokesman said.
Charles is understood to have made personal donations to two charities he is patron of, the British Red Cross and World Jewish Relief. Above: Charles and Camilla talk with Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski during a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral
The PM also welcomed the vote at the United Nations, which underlined the growing isolation of Putin’s regime.
The only countries to vote against were Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Russia – with China abstaining and even longstanding allies of Putin like Cuba and Venezuela refusing to back his war.
French president Emmanuel Macron gave a television address, insisting that the world was ‘not at war with Russia or its people’, but only with Putin who he labelled ‘the aggressor’.
Standing in front of the flags of France, Ukraine and the European Union, Mr Macron said: ‘This war is the fruit of a spirit of revenge born of a revisionist reading of the history of Europe.’
Earlier, Mr Wallace underlined Britain’s opposition to Ukrainian calls for Nato to impose a no-fly zone over the conflict.
He warned the move could trigger a third world war, and suggested it could even hand the advantage to Russia, which has used rockets and artillery rather than jets to conduct its bombing campaign.
