Russia lost over 450 troops in the first day of its war with Ukraine, the Defence Secretary has said.

       Ben Wallace today said that Russia has not taken "any of its major objectives" such as the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, rallies his country ahead of fresh attacks.

       “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,” Mr Wallace told Sky News.

       “They’ve lost over 450 personnel, and indeed, one of the significant airports they were trying to capture with their elite Spetsnaz has failed to be taken and in fact the Ukrainians have taken it back.

       He said that the idea from President Putin that somehow the Ukrainians would be “liberated and flocking to his cause” was “completely wrong” and that the Russian army has “failed to deliver on day one its main objective.”

       So far it is believed that at least 137 Ukrainians have died, while Mr Zelenskyy said that the world had left his country to fight “alone” despite a raft of sanctions being announced by countries including the UK.

       ？？Follow the latest updates below.

       Sir Keir Starmer said on ITV's Good Morning Britain that Vladimir Putin had "calculated the benefits of aggression outweigh the costs" and said MPs must stand together against him.

       "Putin wants to see division among our allies, among our Nato members, and among political parties back here in the United Kingdom, and we are not going to be divided," he said.

       But he added that there needs to be a "change" in the way Mr Putin is handled.

       "The combined package in response to this, financial measures, sanctions, etc, must not only isolate Russia but must be capable of crippling its ability to function."

       "He added: "We are talking about Russia invading a European country here. It's as serious as it gets. We must have an absolutely full response."

       Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Sir Keir said he supported the Government's package of sanctions announced on Thursday but called for extra measures.

       He said the UK should "break open" shell companies in Britain providing support to Vladimir Putin and target Russia via Swift, an international financial system.

       Reacting to news that Russian troops were nearing Kyiv, Sir Keir said the situation was "extremely serious" and Britain should be "absolutely clear" in its stance.

       "We have to stand together with our allies, particularly Nato, and it's very important we must stand together as one United Kingdom, and therefore yesterday was significant in Parliament because all political parties spoke with one voice in our support for Ukraine and our support for Nato.

       "In relation to the sanctions, I thought what the Government put forward earlier this week was not strong enough. They came forward yesterday with a stronger package and I was able to say that we, the opposition, will support those further sanctions.

       "I do want to go further. I think that we do need further financial restrictions, particularly the Swift mechanism. I also think we've got to break open the shell companies we have here in the UK that are providing financial support for Putin."

       Ben Wallace has said British troops will not be sent to fight "directly" with the Russians.

       He told BBC Breakfast: "I said very clearly about a month ago that we are not going to be sending British troops to fight directly with Russian troops.

       "We are going to hold the line in Nato. We've always supported Ukraine's application to Nato over the last 15 years, not every country has wanted them to join.

       "We've done the next best thing, which is train over 20,000 Ukrainians, provided them with lethal capabilities, which they are using right now.

       "But I'm not putting British troops directly to fight Russian troops. That would trigger a European war, because we are a Nato country, and Russia would therefore be attacking Nato."

       Boris Johnson is committed to providing further support to Ukraine after receiving an update from president Volodymyr Zelensky on the "terrible developments" in Kyiv, a Downing Street statement has said:

       Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin's legacy will be "isolation", adding that "diplomacy is absolutely off the table" at this stage.

       He told BBC Breakfast: "I think President Putin is slowly but surely building a wall around himself. He will be isolated.

       "I think, you know, his legacy is not what he hopes it will be. I think his legacy will be isolation."

       He added: "I think at the moment diplomacy is absolutely off the table. We tried. I went to Moscow, Liz Truss went to Moscow, (the) Prime Minister spoke regularly to President Putin and met him on a number of occasions, as did practically every president of, or prime minister of, senior countries in the West.

       "So, you know, I'm not sure what more diplomacy would achieve at this very moment in time."

       He added: "I think it's important to have a diplomatic link, it's important for us to give messages to the Kremlin direct."

       Ben Wallace said he would expect Russian President Vladimir Putin to be "held to account" if he committed a war crime.

       He told Sky News: "If President Putin commits a war crime, then, just as I do if I were to commit a war crime, I should expect to be held to account."

       Asked if Mr Putin's actions already constituted a war crime, he said: "I'm not, I'm afraid, an international lawyer.

       "I couldn't tell you the difference between breaking international law insofar as directing your forces to invade another country, versus a war crime - eg. things like genocide, and indeed, you know, torture, etc.

       "I wouldn't want to speculate the differences. What I would say is he's clearly broken international law, he's occupying or trying to occupy a sovereign country who made one mistake in his eyes. Their mistake in his eyes was not to choose the Kremlin as a way for their future. And that's all they have done."

       The Defence Secretary said that President Putin "failed to live up to all his agreement" in negotiations.

       "He’s failed to follow international law" he told Sky News

       He said thatMr Putin is like Adolf Hitler, in that all along he had "a plan to invade parts of Europe and all of the diplomacy was about a straw man attempt by him to buy time".

       "Putin has been set on this for many many months and certainly over a year," he added.

       Ben Wallace this morning told Sky News: "They’ve lost over 450 personnel, and indeed, one of the significant airports they were trying to capture with their elite Spetsnaz has failed to be taken and in fact the Ukrainians have taken it back."

       He added that Vladimir Putin Russian had got his tactics "completely wrong" in believing that Ukrainians would be "liberated and flocking to his cause".

       As Russia begins the second day of its invasion of Ukraine, Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, is on the media round to give the UK's perspective on whether yesterday's announced sanctions have had any effect on Vladimir Putin's offensive.

       Since yesterday it has been reported that:

       Meanwhile in Westminster:

       Need help?

       Visit our adblocking instructions page.