President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just the beginning – and Moscow has ambitions to capture other nations.
It comes after Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu declared that the country intends to introduce new methods of warfare, with the conflict now entering its 59th day.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has interpreted these remarks as a “tacit admission” that the war isn’t progressing as Vladimir Putin intended.
British officials believe it will take time for Russia to adapt its tactics – and for now, “there is likely to be a continued reliance on bombardment as a means of trying to suppress Ukrainian opposition”.
Speaking during his tour of India, Boris Johnson warned there is a “realistic possibility” that the war in Ukraine could drag on for a long period.
And while the security situation is improving in Kyiv, the prime minister accepted a Western intelligence assessment that suggests the conflict will continue for most of 2022 and end with a victory for President Putin.
On Friday, a Russian general said Moscow wants to seize all of southern and eastern Ukraine as a new phase of the invasion commences.
This plan involves capturing the entire Donbas region, linking up with the Crimea peninsula, and controlling land that stretches as far as a breakaway Russian-occupied region of Moldova.
Ukraine’s top prosecutor accuses Russia of pre-planning mass murder, torture and rape
Key developments:
• The UK is going to reopen its embassy in Kyiv
• Moldova’s foreign ministry has summoned Moscow’s ambassador amid “deep concerns” that the country’s Russian-speaking population was being oppressed
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Moscow on Tuesday to discuss urgently bringing peace to Ukraine – and might visit Kyiv
• Russia’s defence ministry claims one sailor has died and 27 missing after the Moskva missile cruiser sank last week
‘Fighting, shelling, bombing do not stop’
The port city of Mariupol has been reduced largely to smoking rubble following weeks of bombardment.
Footage broadcast on Russian state television appeared to show the flag of pro-Moscow Donetsk separatists raised on the city’s highest point – a TV tower.
Another video claimed to show the main building of the Azovstal steel plant in flames – the last known pocket of resistance within the city.
An estimated 2,000 Ukrainian troops remain holed up in the vast complex – outnumbered by Russian forces – alongside 1,000 civilians.
Eyewitness: ‘Everything is destroyed’ – Refugees describe hell of Mariupol onslaught
Putin has declared victory in the battle for Mariupol and has ordered his forces not to storm the plant. Instead, he told them to seal it off so those inside would have no choice but to surrender.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, said Russian troops were dropping several bombs on Azovstal every day, adding: “Fighting, shelling, bombing do not stop.”
Overall, more than 100,000 people are still believed to be trapped in Mariupol with little food, water or heat – and no humanitarian corridors were open on Friday because it was too dangerous.
An estimated 20,000 civilians there have been killed over the past two months, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has urged those who remain in Mariupol to “be patient” and “hang in there”.
Explainer: What are Russia’s plans for its ‘second phase’ of the war?
Satellite images show new mass graves
New satellite images from Maxar have uncovered the existence of a second cemetery east of Mariupol that appears to have extended in recent weeks.
It includes several long trenches that are – or will likely become – new grave sites.
Local officials shared one photo of a mass grave that was 45 metres by 25 metres, and expressed fears it could hold the bodies of at least 1,000 people.
The discovery of mass graves has led to accusations that the Russians are trying to conceal the slaughter of civilians in the city.
Earlier this week, satellite photographs also appeared to show rows upon rows of freshly dug mass graves in the town of Manhush to Mariupol’s west.