Ukraine: Boris Johnson says Putin is using 'barbaric and indiscriminate tactics' following invasion

On a visit to Poland this morning, Mr Johnson warned that we are witnessing an “unfolding disaster in our European continent” with the death toll continuing to mount.

The Russian President is prepared to “bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers”, Mr Johnson said, speaking from Warsaw.

In the “grim war” Mr Putin had “fatally underestimated” the resistance of the Ukrainians and the resolve of the West to act, the Prime Minister added, praising the “leadership and courage” of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

There was also a hint that there may be a new resettlement scheme that would come from working with Poland.

The Government has been under increasing pressure from its own backbenches to do more to provide sanctuary for those fleeing the conflict.

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.”

Overnight, a Russian military convoy 40 miles long was pictured north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with fears that more civilian targets could be attacked as the fighting intensifies.

Ukraine has already accused Russia of war crimes during the invasion over the bombardment of civilian areas in the second city Kharkiv.