UK PM believes Putin intends to ‘double down’ on Ukraine invasion

Boris Johnson demands end to attacks on nuclear power plants

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

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  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

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

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

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

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

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  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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters

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

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

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

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

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  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

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

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  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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  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

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  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

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes Vladimir Putin intends to “double down” on his invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian president envisages “no way out” but to “continue with the destruction”.

In an interview with La Repubblica, Die Welt and El Pais, the UK prime minister described the moment he was woken in the middle of the night to the news of Russian shelling of a nuclear power station in Ukraine, saying European security is “equally jeopardised” by such an attack.

“I was woken because poor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was extremely concerned about what was happening at the nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia,” he said.

“He rang me to say something that I agreed with profoundly, which is: an attack on a nuclear power plant or an explosion at a nuclear power plant are clearly a matter of our common European health and safety.

“Our security is equally involved, equally jeopardised by such an attack. We remember what happened with Chernobyl, the radioactive clouds spread over the whole continent, and indeed, also to North America, as far as I can remember.

The prime minister added that “although the incident has been contained”, he is “concerned” over how a disaster would be stopped, as there are other plants and radioactive nuclear waste sites in Ukraine.

“One of the things we need to consider is how we’re going to work together to prevent such a disaster. I don’t think the answers are easy, but we need to work on it,” he said.

“[Putin] misunderstood the character of the Ukrainians and of their resolve and he underestimated President Zelenskyy as well - he’s been extraordinary.

Boris Johnson,
British Prime Minister

He added: “We need to work on it urgently. One of the reasons why Putin has, I think, miscalculated so badly in this appalling war is because he underestimated badly the willingness of the Ukrainians to fight and to defend their territory, their belief in their country, their love of their country.

“He misunderstood the character of the Ukrainians and of their resolve, and he underestimated President Zelenskyy as well, he’s been extraordinary.”

Mr Johnson said that Mr Putin also underestimated “western unity and the governments of all the countries represented around this table have really worked together, very effectively, to produce a package of economic sanctions that has had a very considerable effect on Russia”.

Asked how nuclear plants can be protected, he said: “We have to make clear to the Kremlin that a civilian nuclear disaster in Ukraine, another Chernobyl, is a disaster for Russia as well as for everybody.

“Therefore, I think that some system of protecting those plants, some system of ensuring that radioactivity levels are monitored by international authorities, such as the UN and the IAEA on the ground, is going to be extremely important.”

He added that it appears Mr Putin is set on continuing with the “destruction” in Ukraine.

“It feels to me as though Vladimir Putin has decided to — and it’s clear from what’s happening — that he’s decided to double down,” he said.

“He sees no way out of the cul-de-sac that he’s in, except to continue with the destruction, the pulverising of innocent populations, in innocent European cities.

The prime minister said it was important for nations to “respond together” with further sanctions.

“I also want to thank and to congratulate other European governments, all of whom have now really stepped up to the plate in delivering support for the Ukrainians and support for the Ukrainian right to self-defence,” he said.

“We must not accept the narrative of Vladimir Putin that this is about him versus Nato or him versus the West.”

He also suggested the crisis in Ukraine may have improved relations between the UK and EU.

As to whether the situation had “mended a lot of broken relations between” the UK and the EU, Mr Johnson said “all crises reveal the true relationships”.

“Sometimes, if a family goes through some big trauma, then the real strength of the affection between the members of the family and the way they work together can sometimes suddenly be revealed again,” he said.

“I think that’s probably what’s happening now.”

He added: “The last few weeks have shown that Nato is stronger than ever, more relevant than ever. When we went to Estonia or Poland, just this week, you feel it there. They want Nato.”

Mr Johnson said Mr Putin was wrong if he thought he was going to “get less Nato” by invading Ukraine.

“He’s actually getting more Nato. Nato is going to be closer, they’re going to be bigger,” he said.

“Defence spending is going up. So, he’s ending up with the exact opposite of what he wanted.”