‘The right decision’: Putin defends ‘noble’ invasion of Ukraine and vows more bloodshed

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Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that peace talks with Ukraine have hit a “dead end” and that his bloody war in Ukraine will continue – as thousands more civilians flee eastern areas ahead of an anticipated renewed Russian offensive.

The Russian president used a speech to goad the west, promising that he would achieve his aims in Ukraine.

“Its goals are absolutely clear and noble,” he said. “It’s clear that we didn’t have a choice. It was the right decision. We have again returned to a dead-end situation for us.”

Dismissing the punitive sanctions imposed by the US and its allies following his invasion of Ukraine, he said Russia would never again depend on the west.

Mr Putin, who had been a constant presence on Russian television at the start of the war, had largely retreated from public view since Moscow pulled its forces out of northern Ukraine earlier this month.

His speech came amid fresh investigations into suspected Russian war crimes. The United States said it could not find evidence of the use of chemical agents in Mariupol, while French forensic experts arrived in Bucha near Kyiv to help establish what happened in the town where hundreds of bodies have been discovered since Russian forces withdrew.

In a bizarre twist, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko blamed the UK for the Bucha atrocities, calling them a “British special operation”, without citing any evidence.

Boris Johnson last night spoke to US president Joe Biden by phone to discuss boosting military and economic support to Ukraine.

Western officials said they are expecting Russia to double its reinforcement of troops in east Ukraine and satellite images have also suggested the build-up of Russian weaponry is ongoing.

Should the Russians seize Mariupol’s Azovstal district, they would be in full control of the city, a lynchpin between Russian-held areas to the west and east. Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko said on Tuesday the latest estimate was that about 21,000 civilian residents had been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky overnight called for more weapons from the west to help Ukraine end the siege of Mariupol. “Unfortunately we are not getting as much as we need to end this war faster ... in particular, to lift the blockade of Mariupol,” he said.

The Ukrainian president reportedly blocked attempts by his German counterpart to visit Kyiv in response to Berlin’s close economic ties with Russia.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, was told he would not be welcome despite visits from other European leaders including Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, according to German newspaper, Bild.

Earlier, Britain said “all possible options” are on the table if Mr Putin’s forces are found to have used chemical weapons.

Mariupol’s Azov regiment claimed that Russia used chemical weapons in the southern city. It reportedly said that soldiers were left dizzy and unable to breathe after a “poisonous substance of unknown origin” was dropped on them from a Russian drone.

Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said the government was looking into the claim and that “there is a theory that these could be phosphorous munitions”.

Meanwhile, reports of sexual violence in Ukraine are on the rise, according to a senior UN official, while a human rights group has accused Russian soldiers of using rape as a weapon of war.

The head of UN Women, Sima Bahous, told the UN security council on Monday night that “we are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence.

“The brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags,” Ms Bahous said, demanding the allegations to be investigated.

Additional reporting by agencies

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