And thank you to the briefers who have outlined the devastation caused by Russia\u2019s latest attacks, attacks which Russia threatened in this very chamber.<\/p>\n
In the assault on 1 and 2 June, Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles across Ukraine, including a record total of 41 ballistic and hypersonic missiles.<\/p>\n
These are not isolated incidents, but part of a sustained and escalating pattern of Russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities, costing civilian lives across Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Latest reports indicate that in this assault at least 23 civilians were killed, including two boys aged under ten years old, and more than 130 injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every civilian death in this war is a tragedy.<\/p>\n
Russia continues to strike towns and cities across Ukraine, repeatedly damaging homes, schools, and hospitals; destroying the very places where people should feel safest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recent reports have also shown strikes impacting on humanitarian personnel and facilities, as well as damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in several regions.<\/p>\n
These attacks not only cause immediate destruction but are also intended to inflict deep, long-lasting mental harm and sustained pressure on Ukraine\u2019s civilian population, a cruel attempt to force their capitulation.<\/p>\n
Of course, none of this would be happening if Russia had not launched an unprovoked invasion against a sovereign state, now in its fifth year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Russia could end this war today by withdrawing, but instead, Russia escalates attacks while suffering increasing setbacks on the battlefield, growing ever more desperate.<\/p>\n
We welcome President Zelenskyy\u2019s call for a full ceasefire and a diplomatic end to the war, most recently set out in his open letter to President Putin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Putin should now respond by engaging in serious, meaningful peace talks.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, my Prime Minister, alongside the leaders of Ukraine, France, and Germany, expressed condolences for these victims of Russia\u2019s attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They reiterated our collective commitment to stand firmly with Ukraine in search of a diplomatic solution to Russia\u2019s continued aggression.<\/p>\n
This pattern of attacks from Russia shows a disregard for civilian life and for the protections of international law and the UN Charter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Russian Federation bears full responsibility for this war, and President Zelenskyy has repeatedly offered diplomatic solutions.<\/p>\n
Enough is enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A comprehensive ceasefire is long overdue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And thank you to the briefers who have outlined the devastation caused by Russia\u2019s latest attacks, attacks which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-628146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}