A ranting Vladimir Putin today warned his enemies in the West they will face ‘consequences’ if they ‘worsen the situation’ in Ukraine, as he threatened world starvation.

IAN GALLAGHER: Silhouetted against a wall of flame, firemen battle to control an oil depot inferno after a devastating Russian cruise missile attack on Lviv.

MARK GALEOTTI: The war in Ukraine has turned into a disaster and everyone is looking for other people to blame. The atmosphere of mistrust is being stoked by Western intelligence services.

Joe Biden said that recent Kremlin propaganda claiming the US and Ukraine had chemical or biological weapons were a clear sign that Moscow was ‘considering using both of those’.

The self proclaimed ‘freedom fighter’, Simeon Boikov, was surrounded by Covid deniers and fellow pro-Russia supporters, alongside wife Ekaterina Olshannikova on Saturday.

The Foreign Secretary has warned peace talks between Ukraine and Russia might be being used as a ‘smokescreen’ for the Kremlin to regroup troops for a fresh offensive.

Putin threatened NATO allies with ‘consequences greater than any you have faced in history’ should they intervene in the Ukraine conflict, and placed Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert.

Volodymr Zelensky said on Wednesday peace talks with Russia were sounding ‘more realistic’ but more time was needed for any deal to be in the interests of Ukraine..

Oil tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who was once Russia’s richest man, was one of seven people targeted by the Government today in a ratcheting up of action designed to put pressure on the Putin regime.