British troops are being sent to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russia, David Cameron announced today.

About 75 soldiers will be deployed to carry out tactical intelligence and some basic 'defensive' infantry training.

The revelation came as the Prime Minister warned there would be 'dreadful' consequences to appeasing Vladimir Putin. In a clear reference to the Second World War, Mr Cameron said Britain had 'made these mistakes' before, adding: 'It's not a sensible thing to do.'

Mr Cameron said the Russian President's goal was to swallow up swathes of territory on its border.

He told MPs that if Britain and the West did not stand up to Russia now, Mr Putin would target other countries after annexing parts of Ukraine.

About 75 British soldiers will be sent to Ukraine to carry out tactical intelligence and some basic 'defensive' infantry training, the PM said today

Mr Cameron confirmed the British military personnel being sent to Ukraine will be deployed over the next few weeks.

Giving evidence to the Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Cameron said: 'We are not at the stage of supplying lethal equipment. We have announced a whole series of non-lethal equipment, night-vision goggles, body armour, which we have already said that we will give to Ukraine.

'Over the course of the next month we are going to be deploying British service personnel to provide advice and a range of training, from tactical intelligence to logistics to medical care, which is something else they have asked for.

'We will also be developing an infantry training programme with Ukraine to improve the durability of their forces. This will involve a number of British service personnel, they will be away from the area of conflict but I think this is the sort of thing we should be helping with.'

The Prime Minister said he was not advocating sending 'large numbers of British troops' to Ukraine. But he said the EU and US should use its economic might to punish Mr Putin.

Mr Cameron said: 'Of course there is short-term pain when you are putting sanctions on a country there's short term pain to your own economies.

'But in the medium to long term the countries of Europe depend on a rules-based system where people obey the rules.

'The instability we will yield if we don't stand up to Russia in the long-term will be deeply damaging to all of us, because you will see further destabilisation – next it will be Moldova or one of the Baltic States.

'That sort of instability and uncertainty will be dreadful for our economies, dreadful for our stability – and that's why Britain takes such a clear view.'

Mr Cameron said the Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal to swallow up swathes of territory was becoming increasingly clear

Pro-Russian Donetsk residents receive a free meal during a rally as people celebrate the Russian festival 'Defender of the Fatherland' in Donetsk, Ukraine, yesterday

He said Mr Putin's 'strategic goals' were becoming clear.

'We've now seen a very clear pattern of behaviour. We saw it Georgia, with the creation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, we've seen it with Transnistria – we're now seeing it with Ukraine.

'He would like if countries respond weekly to try to restore some of the Russian near abroad to Russia. That is what he would like to do in my view. That is not acceptable. These countries are democracies and should be able to decide their future.'

Mr Cameron said allowing Russia to swallow up its smaller neighbours with Russian-speaking minorities would be wrong.

He said: 'We've made these mistakes in our history, or talking about far-away countries of which we know little – and it's not a sensible thing to do.

'I'm not saying we should send huge numbers of British troops to Ukraine or even that we're at the stage of arming the Ukrainians – but what we should do is make the weight of our economic power that Europe and America play against Russia if they continue to behave in this way.

'Putin knows if he continues down this path he will have a very different relationship with Europe, with Britain, with the US, with the West.'

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has asked for military help to defeat Russia's military advance, David Cameron said today

Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride an armoured personnel carrier in Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, today

Mr Cameron also insisted that Russia's annexation of Crimea and supporting Ukrainian rebels had not been a success for Moscow.

He said: 'Let us not talk ourselves into some idea that it's all been a fantastic success for Russia – it hasn't been.

'A couple of Russian planes fly around the Channel. But we shouldn't talk ourselves into a situation where we think we can't defend ourselves – we absolutely can.

The Prime Minister also insisted that Russia knew Britain and other members of Nato were 'rock solid' in support of its eastern European members.

He said: 'President Putin absolutely knows that we would stand by our article five obligations. If a country of Nato is attacked, an attack on one is an attack on all. That is Nato doctrine – I sign up to it absolutely.'

Mr Cameron said Britain was keeping up the pressure on Mr Putin from within the European Union.

He said: 'Britain's role is to be at the tougher end of the spectrum, keeping the European Union and the European Union together.'

Britain STILL kowtowing to Putin by refusing to expose Russian henchmen allowed to live a life of luxury in Britain

By James Slack

Vladimir Putin attended a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 'Day of the Fatherland's Defender' in Moscow yesterday

Ministers have been accused of kowtowing to Russia by refusing to publicly identify Vlaidimir Putin ‘henchmen’ with links to the UK.

Despite a series of provocative acts by the Russians – including buzzing Bear bomber jets off the coast of Cornwall last week – the Home Office said it did not want to upset ‘international relations’.

The decision provoked fury among MPs and campaigners who accused the Government of being on bended knee to the Russian lobby of ‘murderers and torturers’.

Senior MPs say that, where a decision is taken to ban Russian officials from travelling to the UK on the grounds their presence here would be harmful, they should be publicly identified.

This is considered crucial as, by omission, it would also reveal which of the President’s wealthy associates – including men with links to a notorious murders and the mafia – have not been excluded.

There are fears a string of Russians who may even pose a threat to national security are still being allowed in, to avoid angering Putin.

Tory Dominic Raab warned: ‘If we are serious about trying to alter Putin’s behaviour, should we not start by making sure that those who bankroll him cannot enjoy the fruits of their labour here, clandestinely in luxurious comfort?

‘Those individuals who bankroll Putin and his like should know that when they cross the line and engage in serious international crimes, their association with him and support for him will bar their ability to enjoy the luxurious Knightsbridge lifestyle that so many of them crave.

‘People carrying dirty money and individuals with blood on their hands should not be welcome on the streets of Britain. This is not just a question of moral principle.

‘Sooner or later, if we keep allowing such unsavoury characters into the UK, bringing all their baggage and vendettas with them, we risk finding that it is British citizens who are caught in the crossfire or worse.’

The campaign to name Putin associates banned from Britain was inspired by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was tortured and murdered in 2009 whilst detained, on instructions from the Kremlin, for exposing a $230 million tax fraud committed by Putin’s ‘cronies’.

In the US, a law was introduced banning the Russian officials allegedly involved in the killing from entering the country. All have been publicly named by the Obama administration.

MPs have been calling for a similar law in the UK since 2012.

Yet, while promising to similarly exclude the guilty men, the Home Office refuses to say who has been banned – raising fears a number of those responsible have been allowed to slip through the net to avoid offending Putin.

Tory MP Dominic Raab has accused of kowtowing to Russia by refusing to publicly identify Vladimir Putin ‘henchmen’ with links to the UK

On Monday evening, a band of senior MPs – including the chairmen of seven Westminster select committees - attempted to introduce a clause to the Serious Crime Bill.

This would have forced the Government to identify the people who it had excluded from the country and, therefore, those who remain free to travel here.

However, despite the continued Russian hostility to Britain, Home Office Minister Karen Bradley was ordered to block the legislation in order to not offend ‘international relations and foreign policy objectives’.

A string of prominent Tory backbenchers had backed the naming of Putin’s ‘henchmen’, including ex-solicitor General Sir Edward Garnier, who said the case for changing the law was ‘unassailable’.

Mr Raab accused the Home Office officials blocking the legislation of burying their heads in ‘a comfortable secrecy and lack of transparency’.

The Government’s ‘unbelievable’ stance also angered campaigners.

The British businessman Bill Browder, who employed Mr Magnitsky, said: ‘Who are British ministers serving here? They are more worried about a dictator in a foreign country than in keeping the British people safe.

‘The Russian torturers and murderers lobby seems to hold a lot more sway here in the UK than the US.’

Justifying the decision, Mrs Bradley said changing the law would have ‘serious implications for the security of our borders and therefore to the national security of the country’.

She added: ‘There is a further risk that publication of individuals excluded from the UK may undermine international relations and foreign policy objectives.

‘That risk is intensified if the excluded individual has connections with a foreign Government or well known organisation that may be working in partnership with the UK to broaden our interests abroad. That is one example.