DON'T LET PUTIN WAR CRIMES BE IN YOUR NAME

BORIS MAKES PERSONAL APPEAL TO RUSSIANS AFTER ATROCITIES IN UKRAINE | ‘Putin’s crimes are a stain on your country’s honour’

- Nicholas Cecil

BORIS JOHNSON appealed directly to millions of Russians today to distance themselves from Vladimir Putin’s war crimes in Bucha — stating: “I cannot believe he’s acting in your name.”

The Prime Minister was recording a video, which he will deliver partly in Russian, with the hope that his message will go viral and that the people of Russia will hear the truth about the atrocities being carried out by Mr Putin’s forces. He was expected to tell of the harrowing reports and footage of the civilians massacred in Bucha, near Kyiv, and other towns and cities, some with their hands tied and shot in the back of the head, a sign of execution. The world has also been left reeling in shock by the reports of mass graves being discovered and women raped in front of their children. The Prime Minister was expected to describe Russian president Mr Putin’s war crimes as a “stain on the honour of Russia” and that they “betray the trust of every Russian mother who proudly waves goodbye to her son as he heads off to join the military”.

Mr Johnson was due to add: “Those responsible will be held to account. And history will remember who looked the other way. Your president is committing war crimes. But I cannot believe he’s acting in your name.”

State media in Russia is failing to report on the horrors of the war in Ukraine, where the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns and cities recaptured from Mr Putin’s troops.