UK and allies push for swift Russia-Ukraine war crimes investigation

West concerned that Moscow moves further towards indiscriminately firing on urban areas

A building damaged by a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 25. AP

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Britain and dozens of allies are pressing for an investigation to be launched rapidly into Vladimir Putin’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities after Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused the Russian president of war crimes.

Mr Johnson said Mr Putin “cannot commit these horrific acts with impunity” after 37 countries joined the UK on Wednesday in referring Moscow to the International Criminal Court.

The move, allowing the ICC’s prosecutor to proceed straight to investigation without the need for judicial approval, came as Ukraine’s capital Kyiv braced for a siege.

The country's second-largest city Kharkiv reeled from further strikes and the control of port city Kherson was contested.

Mr Johnson spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning, promising more support and weapons for the forces resisting Russia’s military.

Strikes that damaged the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial in Kyiv and the central square in Kharkiv have caused revulsion.

Western allies fear it indicates a shift in Russian tactics towards indiscriminate strikes on urban areas.

For the first time, the UK explicitly accused Mr Putin of war crimes, with Downing Street claiming “horrific acts” were occurring on an almost hourly basis as population centres were made targets.

“Putin has gravely miscalculated in his abhorrent assault on a sovereign nation," Mr Johnson said at Prime Minister’s Questions.

"He has underestimated the extraordinary fortitude of the Ukrainian people and the unity and resolve of the free world in standing up to his barbarism.

“What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin’s regime in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view, already fully qualifies as a war crime."

Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

Anti-war protesters attach sunflowers to barriers in front of the Russian embassy. Reuters

Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA

Children look out from a carriage window as a train prepares to depart from a station in Lviv to the town of Uzhhorod near the border with Slovakia. AFP

A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo

Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo

A civil defence member is poised to shoot as a vehicle approaches a checkpoint in Gorenka. AP Photo

A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo

Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA

Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP

A woman (right) hugs an arriving passenger from a train carrying refugees at Berlin's central station. EPA

Firefighters battle a blaze in a Kharkiv police building hit by shelling. AFP

A Ukrainian woman makes a phone call after crossing the Slovakian border. AFP

A doctor takes shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters

MPs in London give a standing ovation to Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, who was in the public gallery. AP

Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty

Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Firefighters hand water to people in a Ukrainian train full of refugees in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's police headquarters. AFP

Firefighters work to contain a blaze in buildings housing the Kharkiv regional police department. AFP

A woman and her children sit in a tent in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter. AP

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters

An elderly woman comforts a child as they take shelter inside an underground station in Kyiv. Reuters

People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters

A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters

A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters

A blast is seen at Kyiv's TV tower. Reuters

A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP

A man walks past the remains of Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to Kyiv. AFP

Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP

Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP

People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP

A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP

Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP

Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters

US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters

Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP

A barricade made of trams, buses and sand bags is seen through the window of car in the northern part of Kyiv. AP

Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA

More than 2,000 civilians have died since the invasion, Ukraine’s state emergency service said, although that figure has not been independently verified.

The UN refugee agency believes 874,000 people have fled Ukraine but that figure is soon expected to reach a million.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said on Monday that he planned to open an investigation into events in Ukraine “as rapidly as possible”.

But the UK Foreign Office said the largest referral of its kind from the 38 allies, including Ireland, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and New Zealand, would allow him to “proceed straight to an investigation, without the need for judicial approval”.

“Putin’s military machine is targeting civilians indiscriminately and tearing through towns across Ukraine," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

“An investigation by the International Criminal Court into Russia’s barbaric acts is urgently needed and it is right that those responsible are held to account.

“The UK will work closely with allies to ensure justice is done.”

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, a former lawyer who has prosecuted war crimes, said it was now critical to “preserve properly all evidence of war crimes”.

“Any Russian leader or officer carrying out orders that amount to war crimes should know they face ending up in the dock of a court and ultimately in prison," Mr Raab said.

Earlier, Mr Johnson promised to publish a list of people associated with Mr Putin on whom sanctions could be imposed, as “the vice is tightening on the Putin regime” through the restrictions introduced by the West.

But he was urged by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to immediately increase the measures against allies of the Russian leader.

“Now is the time to sanction every oligarch and crack open every shell company so we can prove Putin wrong,” said Mr Starmer, who called for Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich to face sanctions.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire later said he would sell the club, with the “net proceeds” going to a charity supporting victims of the war in Ukraine.

UK officials have said more sanctions are coming against oligarchs, Russian National Security Council members and banks, and that they believe the economic shock has been more significant than Mr Putin was expecting.

They said they wanted sanctions to go further, including banning all Russian banks from the Swift payment system.