Ukraine-Russia: Boris Johnson issues chemical weapons warning and described Vladimir Putin's regime as 'barbaric' as humanitarian crisis grows

Boris Johnson has admitted he fears Vladimir Putin’s “barbaric” regime will use chemical weapons in Ukraine as the UK expanded its sanctions list to include Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

The Prime Minister accused Mr Putin of a “cynical” attempt to manufacture a pretext for using chemical weapons as the humanitarian crisis inside an invaded Ukraine continued to deteriorate.

More than 1,000 people have died in the besieged south-eastern city of Mariupol, its deputy mayor said, alongside the deaths of three people, including a young girl, following the bombing of a maternity hospital.

Little Amal, a 3.5-metre partly-animatronic, refugee puppet, lays flowers outside the Ukrainian Embassy in London

The city is also slowly running out of food and water, the Red Cross said, increasing fears of a deadly humanitarian situation in the region.

However, as millions of refugees continue to pour out of Ukraine into neighbouring countries, pressure continues to grow on the UK Government to do more.

Priti Patel announced changes to the UK’s visa scheme, but did not waive the requirement for paperwork to entry the UK, prompting demands for further action from the British Red Cross and the Refugee Council.

The Prime Minister said he fears Russia may turn to chemical weapons in Ukraine due to it being “straight out of Russia’s playbook”.

Mr Johnson said the only way the war would likely end was if Mr Putin realised he had made a “catastrophic mistake”.

Speaking to Sky, he said: “The stuff that you're hearing about chemical weapons is straight out of their playbook.

"They start saying that there are chemical weapons that have been stored by their opponents or by the Americans.

"And so when they themselves deploy chemical weapons, as I fear they may, they have a sort of maskirovka – a fake story – ready to go.

"You've seen it in Syria, you saw it even in the UK. That's what they're already doing. It is a cynical, barbaric government."

Foreign secretary Liz Truss had previously said any use of chemical weapons by Russia in the conflict would be a “grave mistake”, as the Treasury moved to sanction more oligarchs, including Mr Abramovich.

Western governments fear the Russian leader may resort to the use of the banned weapons as he fails to make the progress expected in conquering his neighbour.

The UK has already accused the Russian Government of war crimes, following the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol.

“We absolutely believe that war crimes are being committed,” Ms Truss said during a visit to the US.

The UK and US fear Russia could go further and carry out a chemical attack, potentially under the cover of a “false flag” operation.

Asked if the use of such weapons would be a “red line” for the UK, and how it would respond in that situation, the foreign secretary told CNN: “We are very concerned about the potential use of chemical weapons.

“Now, of course, we’ve seen Russia use these weapons before in fields of conflict, but that would be a grave mistake on the part of Russia, adding to the grave mistakes that have already been made by Putin.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the world should be “on the lookout” for the Russian use of chemical and biological weaponry.

She said “Russia’s false claims” about alleged US biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine could be an “an obvious ploy” by the Kremlin to try to “justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine”.

The comments came after confirmation three people, including a young girl believed to be around the age of six, were killed following the hospital strike.

UK defence minister James Heappey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that UK intelligence believed the strike came from artillery rather than the air, but that Britain was “still looking at exactly [what happened]”.

The Army veteran said that, even if Russian troops did not deliberately target the medical complex, the attack still amounted to a war crime.

Mr Heappey told BBC Breakfast: “We ask ourselves the question ‘how did this happen?’ Was it an indiscriminate use of artillery or missiles into a built-up area, or was a hospital explicitly targeted?

“Both are equally despicable. Both, as the Ukrainians have pointed out, would amount to a war crime.”

During a call with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday evening, Downing Street said Mr Johnson had pointed out the Mariupol bombing “was yet further evidence” Mr Putin was “acting with careless disregard for international humanitarian law”.

The World Health Organisation said it had confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.

But Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed concerns about civilian casualties as the “pathetic shrieks” of Moscow’s enemies and claimed the Mariupol hospital had been used as a base by fighters from a far-right group.

The claim pictures from the hospital had been faked and the facility was non-operational was dismissed as “disinformation” by UK officials.

Mr Lavrov held a meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey, but there was no breakthrough to end the fighting.

“I insisted on the urgent need to allow humanitarian help for Mariupol and a 24-hour ceasefire,” Mr Kuleba said.

“Unfortunately, FM Lavrov seemed to have come to talk, not to decide. I hope he will convey Ukraine’s requests back in Moscow.”

Efforts continued to allow civilians to escape towns and cities including Mariupol and the Kyiv suburbs.

Conditions in Mariupol are grim, with food and water running short and some of the trapped citizens resorting to melting snow to drink.

Western officials have described the refugee situation in Ukraine as “unprecedented”, with concerns the total number of people fleeing could reach four million within days.

So far around 2.2 million people have left Ukraine.

One official said: “I would like to stress the sheer scale of this, which is something that we haven’t seen, certainly since the end of the Second World War, and that is a real challenge to us all.”

In the UK, politicians moved to extend sanctions to more oligarchs.

Mr Abramovich was sanctioned due to his links to Vladimir Putin and was among a group of oligarchs targeted by the UK who were accused of having the “blood of the Ukrainian people on their hands”.

Branded a pro-Kremlin oligarch, Mr Abramovich was hit with an asset freeze and a travel ban on Thursday after ministers came under sustained pressure to target him over the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine.

The updated sanctions list, which hits seven new Russian elites, said Mr Abramovich has had a “close relationship for decades” with Mr Putin, which the billionaire has previously denied.

“This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the government of Russia,” the Government says.

Oleg Deripaska, an industrialist worth £2 billion who has had close links with the British political establishment, was also targeted, as was Mr Putin’s “right-hand man” Igor Sechin, who is the chief executive of the Rosneft state oil firm.

The foreign secretary said the Government targeted the oligarchs to “ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine”.

“With their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression,” Ms Truss said. “The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.”

Ministers issued a licence authorising Chelsea, which was hit by the asset freeze, to continue playing matches.

Season ticket holders and those with games already booked can still attend matches, but no new tickets can be sold and the club’s merchandise shop will close.

Downing Street is “open” to a sale of Chelsea, as has been planned by the oligarch, but said a separate licence would need to be approved by the Treasury and that “under no circumstances” could he profit from it.

Jets and yachts owned or chartered by Mr Abramovich, who is worth about £9.4bn, can now been seized.

After critics urged Mr Johnson to go further in targeting the Kremlin’s backers, the Prime Minister defended the “very careful” approach to imposing sanctions and stressed the need to establish “clear evidence”.

He warned Moscow of more sanctions to come, telling broadcasters during a visit to Merseyside he would work with allies to “tighten the economic vice around the Putin regime”.

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