LONDON - The sight of tied bodies shot at close range in the Ukraine do not "look far short of genocide", British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
The deaths in Bucha, outside Kyiv, have triggered a global outcry and pledges of further sanctions against Russia from the West.
"When you look at what's happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has done in Ukraine, which doesn't look far short of genocide to me, it is no wonder that people are responding in the way that they are," he told reporters.
"And I have no doubt that the international community - Britain very much in the front rank - will be moving again in lock step to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin's regime."
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said earlier on Wednesday that the world must act to stop the mass murder in Ukraine, comparing reports of civilian killings by Russian troops to a 1995 genocide in Bosnia.
The US and its allies will target Russian banks and officials with a "sweeping package" of sanctions on Wednesday and ban new investment in Russia, the White House said, after Washington and Kyiv accused Moscow of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
The new sanctions will impose additional restrictions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises in Russia and target Russian government officials and their families, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
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