Putin 'exploits timidity of West to commit horrors’ in Ukraine

The UK and its allies are accused of not doing enough to grind Moscow's war machine to a halt

An apartment building destroyed during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Borodyanka, Ukraine. AP Photo

Russian President Putin is exploiting the timidity of Britain and its western allies who have “given him space to conduct horrors" in Ukraine, an MP said amid calls for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Mr Putin’s position was bullishly defended by his spokesman, who suggested the Russian leader is unfazed by allegations of war crimes and genocide in recent weeks. The International Criminal Court has already started investigating whether war crimes are being committed in Ukraine.

Dmitry Peskov, the president’s spokesman, told Sky News the Kremlin “do not support and we do not recognise the International Criminal Court” when asked if Moscow would co-operate with the investigation. Mr Peskov denied Russian troops had committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Moscow also for the first time acknowledged huge losses in the war, with Mr Peskov saying there had been a "significant" loss of Russian lives in Ukraine.

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the House of Commons defence select committee, said the Russian leader had “taken advantage of the West’s timidity” when invading Ukraine. The Conservative MP said Britain and its western allies were to blame for “giving Putin space to conduct horrors” against the Ukrainian people.

The politician said Mr Putin “is not scared in his job, is not scared of any war crimes, he’s not scared of breaching the Geneva Conventions”.

“In fact, he’s taken advantage of the West’s timidity. We’ve given him space to conduct these horrors and that needs to stop,” he told Sky News.

Mr Ellwood said the world should “brace ourselves for more war crimes to be revealed, more horrors to be exposed” as Russian troops pull out of towns to prepare for a renewed onslaught against Ukrainian forces in the Donbas. He also warned about the magnitude of the southern port city of Odesa possibly falling to the Russians, saying it would mean Mr Putin “will be able to declare a win” in the war.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence on Friday said Russian forces that were stationed in the north of the country “have now fully withdrawn from Ukraine to Belarus” and will need to be replenished before being sent back into battle.

“Many of these forces will require significant replenishment before being ready to deploy further east, with any mass redeployment from the north likely to take at least a week, minimum,” the MoD said.

“Russian shelling of cities in the east and south continues and Russian forces have advanced further south from the strategically important city of Izium, which remains under their control.”

The world is still reeling from the horrific images that emerged from Bucha, a commuter city near Kyiv, after Russian troops last week withdrew.

The mayor of Bucha said investigators had found at least three sites of mass shootings of civilians during the Russian occupation.

Most victims died from gunshots, not from shelling, he said, and some corpses with their hands tied were “dumped like firewood” into recently discovered mass graves, including one at a children’s camp.

Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said the count of dead civilians stood at 320 as of Wednesday, but that he expected the number to rise as more bodies are found in the city, which once had a population of 50,000. Only 3,700 now remain, he said.

Ukrainian leaders predicted there would be more gruesome discoveries in the days ahead after retreating Russian forces left behind crushed buildings, streets strewn with destroyed cars and mounting civilian casualties that drew condemnation from around the globe.