BORIS Johnson will update MPs on the war in Ukraine today amid fears desperate Vladimir Putin is set to start “carpet bombing” civilians.
The PM will answer questions on what Britain is doing to help Kyiv hold out against Russian forces when he takes to the floor for PMQs at noon.
He can expected to be urged by Sir Keir Starmer to go even further on clobbering Moscow with sanctions and providing military kit.
Labour has backed the Government’s tough stance on whacking Russian banks and businesses in a rare display of unity.
The exchange will come after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned the increasingly frustrated Kremlin is poised to turn to more barbaric tactics.
Putin’s forces have failed “considerably behind schedule” and have failed to take any major cities almost a week after they launched the invasion.
They’ve been pegged back by courageous Ukrainian resistance and shambolic planning which has seen Russian troops start to run out of food and fuel.
Kyiv’s fighters, armed with top of the range British and allied weapons, say they’ve inflicted huge casualties on the invaders.
The country’s defence ministry says they’ve killed or captured almost 6,000 soldiers as well as knocking out 30 planes, 31 helicopters and 211 tanks.
Meanwhile the Kremlin is becoming ever more desperate for a win as Western sanctions bite with the country’s economy unravelling at record pace.
The ruble has crashed by more than 40% in just days, interest rates have doubled to 20%, and middle class Russians are scrambling for the exit door.
Mr Wallace said the crushing sanctions partly explain why the Russian army on the ground is struggling to achieve any of its major objectives.
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He said: “The international community has shown how very angry it is with what’s going on, both economically and from the military point of view.
“Those two things are one of the reasons why we see the Russian forces moving very slowly on its objectives. It is considerably behind schedule.
“They are taking casualties and they’re finding it very slow going. They’re not making the progress by a long shot of what they’d have hoped.”
Mr Wallace, a former captain in the Scots Guards, said Russian generals had been “arrogant” about how quickly they could take over Ukraine.
And he warned having got “bogged down” they’re now likely to resort to targeting civilians to try and terrorise the country into submission.
The Defence Sec said: “The Russians have taken significant casualties, far more than they would have planned.
“There’s a huge amount of low morale in the Russian forces, we’ve seen lots of surrenders.
“What they’re therefore doing is trying to switch tactics. They won’t come into the cities as much.
“They will, as we’ve seen tragically, carpet bomb cities indiscriminately. They’ll fly their air at night rather than in the daytime.
“And they’ll try and slowly but surely surround the cities and either bypass or bombard them. That’s the brutality we’re seeing and it’s only going to get worse.”
‘YEARS OF RESISTANCE’
He said the Russians will “try and break the people, which they won’t because the Ukrainians are tough”.
And he warned the Kremlin that even if it manages to take Kyiv it will be “looking at years of Ukrainian resistance”.
Britain and the US have both warned Moscow the war could last up to two decades and cause massive casualties.
Mr Wallace also suggested the brutal dictator will face increasing problems controlling his own people at home.
He said Putin “obviously doesn’t really care” about the crippling economic sanctions but ordinary Russians don’t want to live like North Koreans.
And he added: “When I went to Russia they were very clear that Russian people could suffer greater than mine, that we can’t be harmed by sanctions.
“There’s definitely a sense of pride that somehow Russian suffering equals Russian leadership.
“He’s about to be shocked because this is the 21st Century and Russian people don’t want to go through what they’re about to go through.”
