Ukraine is on the brink of a "humanitarian catastrophe", Britain's UN Ambassador has warned an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
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As Russia continues its assault on the eastern European country, Dame Barbara Woodward was among those at the UN to accuse the Kremlin of launching "indiscriminate attacks against men, women and children" and violating international humanitarian law.
She said: "As a result of President Putin's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a country of 44 million people is now on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.
"Missiles have rained down on Kharkiv, with cluster munitions hitting residential areas and injuring residents. Disruption to supply chains has caused food shortages in Kramatorsk.
"The reckless bombing of an oil depot in Vasylkiv, has unleashed toxic fumes in nearby communities.
"Violence in Kyiv has forced people to seek refuge underground, with many thousands, including the elderly and disabled, unable to evacuate."
The UK permanent representative to the UN told the Security Council that "hundreds of civilians had been killed as a result of the Russian invasion" and seven million people had been displaced, with the figure "rising exponentially".
Ukraine's representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the council that Kyiv was "sitting within Russian crosshairs right now" and that 352 people, including 16 children, had been killed in the fighting.
He accused Moscow troops of attacking hospitals and ambulances in a determination to "kill civilians", adding: "There is no debate. These are war crimes."
But Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian UN permanent representative, said his country's armed forces did "not have the goal of occupying Ukraine or harming the local population".
In a video posted to social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that in five days Russian forces had launched 56 missile strikes and 113 cruise missiles in Ukraine.
He added: "today, Russian forces brutally fired on Kharkiv from jet artillery. It was clearly a war crime.
"Kharkiv is a peaceful city, there are peaceful residential areas, no military facilities. Dozens of eyewitness accounts prove that this is not a single false volley, but deliberate destruction of people: the Russians knew where they were shooting."
"There will definitely be an international tribunal for this crime - it's a violation of all conventions. No one in the world will forgive you for killing peaceful Ukrainian people," he said.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he plans to open an investigation "as rapidly as possible" into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet counterparts in Poland and Estonia and visit British troops as he pushes for Western unity in punishing the Russian president for starting the conflict.
Prior to his trip to eastern Europe, the Prime Minister urged allies to "speak with one voice" to ensure "Putin must fail".
Ukraine was braced for further attacks, after a first round of Ukraine-Russia talks aimed at ending the fighting concluded with no immediate agreements.
Western officials believe that so far around half of the Russian forces that had been ringed around Ukraine's borders have been committed to the assault on the country.
It's feared Moscow could use more indiscriminate force if the invasion stalls.
Australian Associated Press
