Boris Johnson says the UK will REOPEN its Kyiv embassy following Russia’s withdrawal
Boris Johnson says the UK will REOPEN its Kyiv embassy following Russia’s withdrawal – as he pledges further military aid to Ukraine including armoured vehicles
UK prime minister said he wanted to ‘show solidarity’ with the Ukrainian people He said UK is investigating potential war crimes committed by Russian troopsThe show of support came after Moscow media said SAS forces were in Ukraine
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Boris Johnson tonight vowed to reopen the UK’s embassy in war-torn Kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian capital.
In a series of tweets, the prime minister also said Britain will provide the country with ‘further military aid’, including armoured vehicles.
The Conservative leader then warned Vladimir Putin‘s regime that his government will be collecting evidence on potential ‘war crimes’, saying Russia must be ‘held to account’.
He wrote: ‘Today I spoke with President @ZelenskyyUa to update him on the latest steps the UK is taking to support Ukraine.
‘We are providing further military aid, including protected mobility vehicles.
‘We have issued new sanctions against members of the Russian military.
Boris Johnson (pictured leaving for Delhi on Friday), vowed more military support for Ukraine and warned Russia it is being investigated by the UK for potential war crimes
The British embassy in Ukraine (pictured in January this year) will re-open following the withdrawal of Russian troops, Boris Johnson said tonight
In a series of tweets, Boris Johnson (pictured with Zelensky during trip to Kyiv) said Britain will provide Ukraine with ‘further military aid’, including armoured vehicles
‘We will be reopening our embassy in Kyiv, demonstrating our solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
‘And the UK government is helping to collect evidence of war crimes.
‘Russia must be held to account for its actions.’
Mr Johnson’s voice of support came just hours after Putin launched a search for British SAS forces alleged to be fighting in Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s Investigative Committee (IC) said Saturday it was investigating British special forces who are thought to be in the western Lviv region.
Putin’s personal CIA said it will look into ‘the facts of the activities of British SAS saboteurs in Ukrainian regions,’ according to state-controlled outlet RIA Novosti.
The IC claimed that ‘at least two groups of specialists in sabotage and guerrilla warfare from the British Special Air Service (SAS) have been sent to the Lviv region’.
Boris Johnson vows to re-open UK embassy in Kyiv while warning Putin his regime will be held to account in a series of tweets on Saturday evening
An IC source claimed SAS operatives in Ukraine ‘are specialists in sabotage and partisan activities, recruiting and training agents to work in hostile territory’.
Russia appears to base its investigation on information allegedly received from captured Ukrainian troops.
The SAS is ‘considered one of the most highly qualified in the world in organising coups d’etat, mass protest rallies, contract killings of political figures, recruiting agents, including those in the highest echelons of power, and preparing terrorist attacks’, said the RIA Novosti report.
‘This is no ordinary special force – these are intellectuals, in each group there is always an ideologist, you can say a professor, and the rest are particular specialists,’ said a Russian law enforcement source.
The report claimed that the SAS often work in war zones under cover of medical workers.
‘With a high degree of probability, these specialists arrived in order to improve the skills and efficiency of the Ukrainian special services in coordinating the activities of sabotage groups in the territories of Ukraine controlled by Russian troops,’ said the IC source.
The committee is headed by Russia’s top criminal investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, who was a university classmate of Vladimir Putin’s.
Putin confers with the head of the Kremlin’s Investigation Committee (and his old university classmate) Alexander Bastrykin, who believes SAS forces may be fighting in the western region of Lviv
SAS forces conduct a specialised military maneouvre in an undisclosed location (file image)
Earlier this month it was reported that SAS troops have trained local forces in Kyiv for the first time since the war began.
Two officers from separate battalions stationed around the country’s capital said special forces had trained their troops on two occasions in early April.
British military trainers have had a presence in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, but were withdrawn in February as the likelihood of Putin ordering an all-out invasion of Ukraine increased.
A UK defence source said: ‘We don’t comment on stories around Special Forces, especially ones that are being pushed out by the Russian news agencies, because inaccurate speculation can put people’s lives at risk, which is why we neither confirm or deny reports.’
