Ukraine-Russia: Boris Johnson says Ukraine needs 'vital' fresh military support as Russia gains another city

Boris Johnson has stressed the “vital” need to provide Ukraine with fresh military support including long-range rocket launchers as Russian forces slowly “chew through ground” in the east.

The Prime Minister warned Vladimir Putin’s invading army was making “palpable progress” in the Donbas region after abandoning the attempt to encircle Kyiv.

Mr Johnson argued, in an interview with Bloomberg, that more offensive weapons are needed.

He warned of the dangers in negotiating with the “crocodile” Russian President, but said Mr Putin must accept his so-called “de-Nazification” of Ukraine has finished so he can “withdraw with dignity and honour”.

Men work at repairing a building damaged by shelling in Makariv, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

It comes as Ukrainian officials said Russian-backed forces had taken control of the city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region.

Mr Putin’s invading troops have also recently captured “several villages” as they attempt to surround Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Donbas region, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

But the ministry said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s defending forces were holding “multiple defended sectors” as Russia deploys 50-year-old Soviet-era T-62 tanks.

These, the intelligence update said, “will almost certainly be particularly vulnerable” to anti-tank weapons and their use shows Russia’s lack of “modern, combat-ready equipment”.

Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s very, very important that we do not get lulled because of the incredible heroism of the Ukrainians in pushing the Russians back from the gates of Kyiv.

“I’m afraid that Putin at great cost to himself and Russian military is continuing to chew through ground in Donbas, he’s continuing to make gradual, slow but I’m afraid palpable progress.

“And therefore it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily.”