Nicola Sturgeon has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of reaching “a new low” and committing war crimes in Ukraine.
The First Minister was speaking after Russian forces bombed a hospital in the city of Mariupol which killed three – including a child – and injured 17 others.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon said she was “horrified and deeply distressed” by the scenes in Ukraine, which has been under assault from Putin’s invasion for two weeks.
She said: “Yesterday’s developments were a new low, a low I believe all of us hoped we would never see – the targeting of children and babies in a maternity hospital,” she said.
“Vladimir Putin is committing, on a daily basis, crimes against international law, he is committing crimes against humanity, he is committing war crimes.
“It is important to do everything that is possible to stop Vladimir Putin, but it is also important to ensure that he pays the severest price for the actions that he is undertaking and the crimes he is committing now.”
Ms Sturgeon’s comments were echoed by other leaders in Holyrood, with Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, describing the Russian President as a “war criminal”.
Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross, said: “Yesterday, the tragic events hit a new low, with a children’s hospital reduced to rubble.
“Russians bombed a hospital and they targeted children. Young, innocent lives have been lost in the most despicable and atrocious way.
“It’s hard to express the anger and grief that we all feel at this appalling act.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar insisted that “Vladimir Putin must fail”.
He added: “But let’s also be clear Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and he must face justice.”
The Holyrood party leaders were speaking just hours after the UK Government announced plans to streamline the visa process for people fleeing Ukraine who seek to come to the UK.
However, the leaders said the changes, which would allow for applications to be made online and supplementary paperwork and biometric checks undertaken when they reach Britain, did not go far enough.
“I welcome the limited movement that we have heard this morning from the Home Secretary,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“I think it needs to go further. I repeat my appeal to the Prime Minister to emulate the example of the Republic of Ireland, (and) of countries across the European Union, to waive visa requirements, to put sanctuary first and paperwork second.”
The First Minister said she would write to the Prime Minister later on Thursday and implored other leaders to sign on to the correspondence.
Mr Ross said “more, much more” must be done to help refugees, while Mr Sarwar said: “This goes beyond party politics, this is about people fleeing war and not just seeking sanctuary but home here in Scotland.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel