Ukraine-Russia conflict: Boris Johnson accuses Vladimir Putin of 'barbaric and indiscriminate' attacks against civilians

Boris Johnson has accused Vladimir Putin of making “barbaric and indiscriminate” attacks on civilians.

Speaking alongside Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish Prime Minister, Mr Johnson described the war in Ukraine had proven worse than expected.

The Prime Minister claimed that Putin had "fatally underestimated two things" as the war in Ukraine enters its sixth day.

He said: "The first is the passionate desire of the Ukrainian people to defend and protect their own country, their belief in their sovereign right to defend themselves, and I pay tribute by the way to the leadership and courage that is being shown by Volodomyr Zelensky.

The regional administration building in the central square of Kharkiv, was targeted

"I think that Vladimir Putin has also underestimated the unity and the resolve of the West and of the rest of the world. We will keep up the economic pressure, it is probably one of the most powerful packages of sanctions advanced against any country in the last few decades.

"I'm more convinced than ever, as this hideous conflict progresses, that Putin will fail and I believe that Putin must fail, and that we will succeed in preserving and protecting a sovereign and democratic Ukraine. That is our joint objective."

The Prime Minister said it is "great to be back in Warsaw", but that the tragedy was worse than expected.

He continued: "We are seeing an unfolding disaster in our European continent and once again our Polish government are on the frontline as so often in history.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) is greeted by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the Chancellery in Warsaw, Poland. Picture date: Tuesday March 1, 2022.

“We in the UK stand ready to help you, we have humanitarian supplies already coming in – I think two planes of medical supplies have already landed, there is more to come.

Mr Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki: “We stand ready, clearly, to take Ukrainian refugees in our own country, working with you, in considerable numbers, as we always have done and always will.”

Earlier the PM's official spokesman claimed Putin "had also underestimated Western unity".

The spokesman added: "The Prime Minister said Putin must fail in his attempts to subjugate Ukraine and the UK would continue its efforts in three main areas to achieve this: economically, diplomatically and militarily."

In a phone call on Monday with the Ukrainian president Mr Johnson promised to provide military equipment.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "President Zelensky asks for specific bits of kit or equipment and, whenever feasible, we are seeking to deliver it.

"We are almost up to daily deliveries now across the border."

It comes as YouTube blocked channels linked to Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik across Europe – including the UK – amid the invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Google Europe said: “Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we’re blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately.

“It’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up. Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action.”

The platform had previously limited the ability of RT and other Russian channels to make money from advertising on the site.