Boris Johnson has said the actions of Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha “doesn’t look far short of genocide”.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, the prime minister said he expected Vladimir Putin’s regime to be hit with tougher international sanctions.
“I’m afraid when you look at what’s happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what Putin has done in Ukraine doesn’t look far short of genocide to me,” he told broadcasters.
“I have no doubt that the international community, Britain very much in the front rank, will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin’s regime.”
The UK, US and EU are expected to announce further package of economic measures against Russia today.
The European Commission has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia and a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks as part of its fifth sanctions package.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said economic actions so far were having a “crippling impact” and “pushing the Russian economy back into the Soviet era”.
Johnson yesterday issued a direct appeal to the Russian people to reject Putin’s war in Ukraine, which he called a “stain” on their country’s honour.
In a speech to the UN security councill, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr accused Russia of the “most terrible war crimes” since the Second World War.
The Kremlin responded by claiming images of civilians said to have been killed by Russian soldiers in the town of Bucha were “fake news” having been staged by the Ukrainians themselves.
However, the UK Ministry of Defence said analysis of satellite imagery from March 21 – when the town was still occupied by the Russians – showed at least eight bodies lying in a street.