y(7HA9F6*LNSTRN( |||+#!.'NEWMAN’S
VIEW
Everything seems to stand still as
the two men in overalls and body
armour crouch around the hole in
the floor of Irina Lebvedev’s small
kitchen and lever up the tiles.
The Russian shell smashed
through a roof, a ceiling and thefloor without exploding so they are
confident they will not set it off
but, just in case, they tell Irina’s
grandson and others to stand back.
Even Irina’s cat stops mewing and
for a moment the only sound is the
men’s breathing as they reach
down for the 122mm shell, pull out
the fuse then carry it outside.
To onlookers it resembles a
scene from The Hurt Locker, the
Oscar-winning film about a maver-
ick bomb disposal unit in Iraq. For
Roman Horiak, 31, leader of the
five-man team removing Russian
mines and ordnance in Bucha andIrpin, suburbs of Kyiv that are now
synonymous with the invaders’
atrocities, it is all in a day’s work.
Twenty minutes earlier he had
been perched precariously on a
tenth-floor balcony trying to
reach another unexploded shell.
Irina’s kitchen is his 20th bomb dis-
posal that day. Over the three
weeks since the Russians retreated
from the outskirts of the capital his
team have often cleared 200-300 a
day. They used to average five a
month.
It is becoming clear that not only
did the Russian forces carry outrapes, torture and summary kill-
ings during their month-long occu-
pation — bodies are still found
every day — but that they are also
responsible for a legacy that may
kill and maim people for decades.
Horiak, who has a five-year-old
son, shrugs off the danger of his
work. “It’s not like Storm in the
Desert,” he smiles, referring to the
local name for Kathryn Bigelow’s
film. But the risks are real: three of
his fellow de-miners were killed in
Kharkiv last week.
Two months of war in Ukraine
have generated what experts say isthe biggest volume of unexploded
ordnance in Europe since 1945.
Partly it is the astonishing failure
rate of Russian artillery: a lot of
their bombs did not go off. Partly it
is the dangers presented by shot-
down helicopters still bearing their
missile-load. Most of all, however,
it is the terrifying array of mines
the Russians left behind, including
those that send out spinning discs
designed to slice through body
armour, those used to booby trap
children’s toys, appliances such
as washing machines rigged toWalking in the footsteps of Kyiv’s Hurt Locker heroes
INDEX
This week News 2
Weather News 29
Letters News 26
Sudoku News 28
TV & Radio Culture 37Continued on page 4→CHRISTINA
LAMBKyivUkraine repeatedly asked to buy
weapons from Britain for seven
years but was refused by three suc-
cessive prime ministers, a Sunday
Times investigation can reveal.
As long ago as 2015 the defence
secretary and two former cabinet
ministers raised concerns about
the fact that arms were being with-
held for fear of provoking Presi-
dent Putin of Russia.
Sir Michael Fallon, who served
as defence secretary under David
Cameron and Theresa May, said he
was often approached by Kyiv
seeking to buy arms. He raised the
issue in cabinet but kept having to
say no, against his better judgment.
“I and the ministry wanted to do
more,” he said. “We were stymied
and we were blocked in cabinet
from sending the Ukrainians the
arms they needed.” He said minis-
ters “felt extremely strongly that
we should do nothing to further
provoke Russia”.
Liam Fox, another defence sec-
retary under Cameron, who spoke
out against the failure to arm
Ukraine as a backbench MP in
2015, said: “It was very clear what
[Putin’s] pattern of behaviour was
and it was very clear that Ukraine
Emmanuel Macron strolls on the beach with his wife Brigitte in Le Touquet, northern France, on
the eve of the presidential election against Marine Le Pen today. Report, page 12April 24, 2022 · Issue no 10,311 · thesundaytimes.co.uk £3 · only £2 to subscribers (based on 7 day Print Pack)
Sunday newspaper of the year
SHARON
OSBOURNE
FACELIFTS AND
CANCEL CULTURE
MAGAZINE
MY MAD
HOLIDAY
NEWS REVIEW
IN HARRY AND MEGHAN’S HOME TOWN
VIEW
Ukraine pleas for
weapons were
rejected for years
Ministers
face claims
of sexual
misconduct
Three cabinet ministers and two
shadow cabinet ministers are fac-
ing allegations of sexual miscon-
duct after being reported to the
parliamentary watchdog set up in
the wake of the #MeToo scandal.
They are among 56 MPs who
have been referred to the Inde-
pendent Complaints and Griev-
ance Scheme (ICGS) over about 70
separate complaints.
The allegations involving the 56
include making sexually inappro-
priate comments and more serious
wrongdoing. At least one com-
plaint is believed to involve crimi-
nality and concerns an allegation
that an MP bribed a member of
staff in return for sexual favours.
The disclosures come ten days
after Imran Ahmad Khan, a Con-
servative MP, resigned following
his conviction for sexually assault-
ing a 15-year-old boy in 2008.
Another Conservative MP, David
Warburton, had the whip sus-
pended this month after it was
revealed he was under investiga-
tion over alleged sexual harass-
ment. The complaints are being
assessed by the ICGS.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker
of the Commons, is concerned by
the number of complaints and is
preparing to launch a review of
working practices in parliament.
MPs employ staff directly and
deal with human resources prob-
lems themselves, meaning it can
be difficult for employees to chal-
lenge inappropriate behaviour.
One of Warburton’s alleged victims
worked for him and his office man-
ager was his wife.
The ICGS was set up in 2018 inCaroline Wheeler Political EditorSUNNY OUTLOOK FOR MACRON?
Successive PMs ignored calls from ministers
and army in a vain attempt to placate Putin
group for Ukraine. He was later
told by the commander of the
Ukrainian forces in Mariupol that
arms were needed because there
was “a very strong chance” of a fur-
ther Russian military advance.
During his visit to Kyiv two
weeks ago Boris Johnson claimed
Britain “helped to lead the way” in
offering Ukraine military support
and since the invasion it has com-
mitted significant weaponry.
Today, however, the seven years
of obfuscation, foot-dragging and
failure to confront the threat posed
by Putin at the heart of British gov-
ernment can be laid bare.
Johnson was a firm advocate for
the government’s policy of sending
only non-lethal military equip-
ment after he became foreign sec-
retary in 2016. He also sought a
normalisation of relations with
Russia despite its occupation of
Crimea. The weapons ban
remained even after the US began
supplying Ukraine with anti-tank
weapons four years ago.
Ukrainian officials are said to
have become increasingly desper-
ate to acquire the weapons that
might have averted a Russian inva-
sion over the past two years as ten-
sions with the Kremlin grew.
Vadym Prystaiko, the Ukrainian
Continued on page 2→GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERSContinued on page 2→INSIGHT
would be next. There was no logic
whatsoever in saying, ‘Well, we
can’t give the Ukrainians the ability
to defend themselves in case of
provoking Putin’.”
A third cabinet minister, John
Whittingdale, a Cameron culture
secretary, secured a debate in par-
liament to raise his concerns about
what he had witnessed during a
2017 trip to Ukraine’s eastern Don-
bas region in his role as chairman
of the all-party parliamentaryCAUGHT
NAPPING
PAGES 18-