‘Butcher of Mariupol’ targeted in new swathe of sanctions by UK

Britain hit “The butcher of Mariupol” with sanctions on Thursday.

They imposed the restrictions against Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.

The Foreign Office said Mizintsev is the Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre, where Russian military operations are planned and controlled.

It accused him of “using reprehensible tactics, including shelling civilian centres in both Aleppo in 2015-16 and now in Mariupol - where atrocities are being perpetuated against Ukrainian people”.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also announced 14 new sanctions on Russian”propagandists and state media” who she claimed were spreading “lies and deceit” about Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

She said: “This latest batch of sanctions hits the shameless propagandists who push out Putin’s fake news and narratives. We will keep on going with more sanctions to ramp up the pressure on Russia and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table.”

Other names added to the sanctions list include propagandist Sergey Brilev and Kremlin funded TV-Novosti, which owns the RT news channel.

Aleksandr Zharov, chief executive of Gazprom-Media, Alexey Nikolov the managing director of RT and Anton Anisimov, the head of Sputnik International Broadcasting were also sanctioned.

Mariupol has seen some of the worst atrocities carried out by Russian forces since the invasion started on February 24.

Around 300 civilians are reported to have been killed when a theatre was hit by a Russian attack.

More than 1,000 people, including children, were believed to have been sheltering in the basement of the building.

There were signs on the ground outside it, at least a few days before the strike, making clear children were inside.

A school housing 400 people was also reportedly hit, as was a maternity hospital.

Russian forces have besieged the port city on the Azov Sea for weeks, cutting off electricity and running water supplies, with little food or medicine also available for the tens of thousands of residents who remain.

Some are reported to have starved to death.

People have had to bury their neighbours in the street, with thousands believed to have died.

A fresh attempt was being made on Thursday to open evacuation corridors and to bring in supplies but previous such moves have failed.

Russian troops have been accused of targeting fleeing civilians, which the Kremlin denies, though this flies in the face of numerous reports and footage.