Prime Minister plans trip to Ukraine capital to show support in war with Russia
Prime Minister plans trip to Ukraine capital to show support in war with Russia but security chiefs ‘are having kittens’ over the idea as renewed Russian shelling leaves civilians dead and parts of the city in flames
Boris Johnson is considering a lightning trip to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine’s battle against the invasionSecurity officials said to be ‘having kittens’ at the prospect but a Whitehall source it can be made to work More than ten million have fled Ukraine a UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a tweet on Sunday
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Boris Johnson is considering a lightning trip to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine’s battle against Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister has asked officials to examine the practicality and value of the trip to the Ukrainian capital for talks with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Security officials are said to be ‘having kittens’ at the prospect of the PM travelling to a war zone; from which ten million have fled, UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said on Sunday.
But a Whitehall source said Mr Johnson ‘wants to go’ if it can be made to work.
The source added: ‘If you set aside the security concerns, which are considerable, the question is whether there is anything additional you could achieve by visiting in person, or whether it would just be a show of solidarity, and whether that is a sufficient goal in itself.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked officials to examine the practicality and value of a trip to Kyiv
But the situation tonight in Kyiv showed how difficult it would be to ensure the Prime Minister’s safety if he does visit.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko shared pictures of what appears to be an explosion in the distance in the city’s Podil district.
In a tweet he reported claims of several explosions, ‘in particular, according to information at the moment, some houses and in one of the shopping centres’.
Klitschko added that ‘rescuers, medics and police are already in place’ and reported ‘at this time – one victim’. It is unclear if he referred to a fatality or injury.
In a tweet the mayor reported claims of several explosions, ‘in particular, according to information at the moment, some houses and in one of the shopping centres’
Mayor Vitali Klitschko shared pictures of what appears to be an explosion in the distance in the city’s Podil district
Olga, a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman seriously wounded while sheltering her baby from shrapnel blasts amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, holds her baby Victoria in Kyiv
Olga holds her baby as her husband Dmytro stands by her side. The 27-year-old Ukrainian woman seriously wounded while sheltering her baby from shrapnel
Another post from the mayor said: ‘Rescuers are extinguishing a large fire in one of the shopping centers in the Podolsk district of the capital. All services – rescue, medics, police – work on site. The information is being clarified.’
The prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic made a trip to Kyiv last week.
‘I have a very, very strong desire to support him [Zelensky] in any way I can. Whether that would be a useful way of showing my support I don’t know but it is of huge strategic, political, economic, moral importance for Putin to fail and Zelensky to succeed,’ Mr Johnson told The Sunday Times.
It came as Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday moved to defuse a row caused by a Tory spring conference speech at the weekend, in which the PM appeared to link Ukraine’s battle for freedom against Putin with Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
Evacuees from the villages occupied by Russian soldiers arrive in the town of Brovary, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian firefighters and security teams at the scene of a building hit by Russian missiles in Kyiv
He said: ‘The instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom, every time… When the British people voted for Brexit, in such large, large numbers, I don’t believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners.
‘It’s because they wanted to be free to do things differently and for this country to be able to run itself.’
But Mr Sunak said: ‘He was talking about freedom in general. Those two situations are not directly comparable and no one thinks that they are.’
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves urged the PM to apologise for the ‘crass remarks’.
