Russia failing to achieve ‘any major objectives’ in Ukraine and has lost 450 personnel, UK defence secretary says

Russia is failing to achieve any of its key aims at the start of its invasion of Ukraine and has lost 450 personnel, the defence secretary says.

Ben Wallace said the Kremlin had been unable to take control of a significant airport north of Kyiv, adding: “In fact, the Ukrainians have taken it back.”

“Our assessment, as of this morning, is that Russia has not taken any of its major objectives – in fact it is behind its hoped-for timetable,” he said.

And he added: “Russia has lost significant amounts of armour and people – Ukrainians are fighting and they are fighting brave.”

The assessment came despite an expectation that Russian tanks will roll into Kyiv on Friday – evoking memories of Soviet invasions of the capitals of Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the last century.

Russia has continued to carry out missile attacks, as Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, pleaded with Western allies to do more to stop the assault.

Boris Johnson’s cabinet has been briefed that the war is likely to be protracted, forcing Western allies to dig in for a long haul as they use sanctions to try to force Vladimir Putin to pull back.

That effort has already been undermined by a failure to reach agreement to exclude Russia from the SWIFT international payments system, with Germany among countries resisting.

Mr Wallace said the Russian president had claimed the people of Ukraine would feel “liberated” and would be “flocking to his cause”.

“He got that completely wrong and the Russian army is failing to deliver on day one, its main objective,” he told Sky News.

The defence secretary also defended his comment that Putin has gone mad, saying: “I certainly think he has gone full tonto. No one else in their right mind would do what we’re seeing on our telly screens today.”

Mr Wallace also, on BBC Breakfast, argued there is growing evidence that Putin is “completely out of touch with his own people”, saying: “There are 56 protests in 56 cities in Russia against this.”

But he again ruled out the UK putting “boots on the ground” in Ukraine, saying: “No, we are not going to be sending British troops to fight directly with Russian troops.

“That would trigger a European war, because we are a Nato country – Russia would therefore be attacking Nato.”

The prime minister spoke with President Zelensky again on Friday morning, to “express his solidarity with Ukraine”, Downing Street said.

He was updated on “the most recent Russian military advances, including missile and artillery strikes on Ukrainian cities and the terrible developments in Kyiv in the early hours of this morning”, No 10 said.

“The prime minister committed to provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days, as the people of Ukraine and the world continue to demonstrate that Putin cannot act with impunity,” a statement said.