Ukraine was tonight facing an “escalation of horror” as Vladimir Putin prepared for a brutal assault on its capital Kyiv – and continued his merciless onslaught of cities across the devastated country.
Russia was feared to be making final preparations to lay siege to Kyiv after gaining ground in its outskirts, with troops said to be less than 15 miles away.
But as air-raid sirens and volleys of shelling rang out over the city Ukrainians vowed they will stand up to Russia.
The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned Putin would only take Kyiv if he razes it to the ground.
Its youngest MP, Sviatoslav Yurah, 26, vowed: “Nobody is going to surrender.”
As they prepared to fight, experts warned the battle for Kyiv could lead the Russians to use “irregular weapons”.
But Britain last night offered some hope to Ukrainians fleeing their country.
The UK Government announced a settlement scheme for refugees with financial help for people in Britain who take them into their homes.
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Today, the 17th day of Putin’s senseless and relentless war…
- Intense fighting raged in multiple areas around the capital city.
- Russian forces captured the eastern outskirts of besieged Mariupol, where mass graves have been dug for more than 1,500 people.
- A strike on an ammunition depot in the satellite town of Vaslkyiv triggered hundreds of smaller detonations,
while the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy were encircled. - Loud explosions were reported in the cities of Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Nikolaev.
- Fresh attempts to evacuate innocent civilians from fighting flash points were again hampered by constant shelling.
- Defiant President Zelensky claimed the Russian army had suffered its largest loss “in decades”.
So far 353 Russian tanks have been destroyed by Ukraine soldiers. The number of Russian troops killed is estimated to be more than 12,000.
In a rousing online speech, Mr Zelensky vowed his country would fight to the end in its defence of Kyiv.
But he said: “If there are hundreds of thousands of people, who are now being mobilised by Russia, and they come with hundreds or thousands of tanks, they will take Kyiv. We understand that.”
Mr Yurah likened the looming battle to the bloodiest of the Second World War, in which 1.9 million German and Soviet troops died. He said: “This will be their Stalingrad if they want to make it so. Nobody is going to surrender. I can definitely guarantee you that.”
Sources said Ukrainian soldiers today blew up a main Russian HQ set up outside Kyiv.
Putin’s troops, supported by mercenaries and fighters from Chechnya and Syria, have still failed to take control of any major urban area. But they were pictured moving rocket launchers into position outside the capital.
And former British Army colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon warned of an “escalation of horror”.
The chemical weapons expert, who advised the UK government after the Salisbury poisonings, said Putin could order indiscriminate attacks on the city.
He said: “I fear what is about to transpire in Kyiv will be unwatchable. If things start going badly the Russians will revert to irregular weapons.
“They will use thermobaric weapons, which are illegal to fire in civilian areas, white phosphorus – a self-igniting chemical that can burn at upwards of 2,500 degrees – and possibly napalm to set buildings on fire. It will be like Grenfell multiplied by a thousand.”
Russian troops were last night accused of shooting dead six women and a child as they tried to leave the village of Peremoha via an agreed humanitarian corridor.
Ukraine’s intelligence service said after the attack on Friday “the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back to Peremoha and are not letting them out”.
Conditions are desperate in decimated Mariupol, where a maternity hospital and a mosque were shelled.
After repeated failed evacuation efforts, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, described the city as “the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet”.
President Zelensky urged Russia to uphold a ceasefire. He also called for the release of kidnapped Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov. In Ivano Frankivsk, air-raid sirens blared all day today. IT student Dima, 19, took cover underground with girlfriend Alina, 16.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “To be honest I am very scared of what is happening to Ukraine.”
The UN estimates that 2.6 million people have so far fled the country.
Under Michael Gove’s new Homes for Ukraine scheme, Britons who offer refugees shelter for at least six months will receive £350 a month.
The Levelling Up Secretary said: “I urge people across the country to join the national effort and offer support to our Ukrainian friends.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meaden said they would be happy to take in a refugee. A website will be launched this week.
But Britain was criticised for buying Russian oil. Oleg Ustenko, economic advisor to President Zelensky, said: “It will be sold for money and that money was used by Putin to buy weapons and ammunition that are killing Ukranians.”
Meanwhile, British special forces veterans, helping to defend Ukraine in a project funded by a European country, have been ordered to withdraw as UK officials fear their presence could spark political problems.
It also emerged Britons who volunteer to fight in Ukraine could be executed on the spot if captured.
In a 75-minute phone call today, French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Meanwhile Italy seized the world’s biggest yacht, worth £443m from Russian coal and fertiliser billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. And the US was last night investigating if a £536m super yacht docked in Italy belongs to Putin.
