British-donated military kit used to shoot down Russian planes, Ukrainian ambassador to UK says

Vadym Prystaiko, speaking in London this afternoon, promised there will be fighting in the streets of Ukraine if Russia's Vladimir Putin continues with his apparent expansion plans.

He appeared to thank the UK, revealing that British-supplied military kit has been used to shoot down Russian aircraft.

Prystaiko called for a no-fly zone to be put in place over his country, saying he wanted “something which only NATO can provide”.

Anti-tank weapons supplied by the UK had also been used against Russian tanks.

He bemoaned the lack of action from the West, saying "we should have started much earlier, maybe decades ago” to prepare for Russian aggression.

“That’s why we’ve been trying to get into NATO (for) all these years,” he said. “Because we always believed this would come.”

Prystaiko also outlined a number of economic sanctions his country wished to see put in place.

He called on allies to stop buying Russian oil and gas, and to ban foreign investment in Russia, including stopping western government pension funds being invested in Russian assets.

Prystaiko added that the West to sanction the Russian Central Bank, as well as state-owned and private banks, and to sanction all rouble transactions in western banks.

He said Russia should be blocked from the Swift payment system, and disconnected from Visa and Mastercard systems.

He claimed personal sanctions should also be expanded to all those on the sanctions lists of western countries, and their families, including asset freezing, visa cancellations, revoking their passports, and sending them back to Russia.