Former Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has disclosed he is in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 31 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union.

“Here in Kyiv we’re in shelters after being woken by the air raid siren,” the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman tweeted in response to a post by British journalist John Sweeney.

Mr Tugendhat earlier said he was in the city along with 30 representatives from across Europe “to show our support for Ukraine and stand against Putin’s illegal invasion”.

“Where the communists once paraded, now the Kremlin’s callous failure is on display,” he added.

On Wednesday, Ukraine celebrates 31 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union, while it is also six months since Russia’s invasion began.

The Tonbridge and Malling MP has been an outspoken critic of the offensive, calling it a “crime against peace” not long after it began.

Mr Tugendhat made it to the third round of the race to succeed Boris Johnson before being bundled out last month.

Relying on his record in the Army and his career as a backbencher chairing the foreign affairs body, Mr Tugendhat offered himself as a candidate untarnished by the scandals that dogged Mr Johnson and his Government.

After leaving the race he pledged his support to frontrunner Liz Truss, who won him over with a tax pledge Mr Tugendhat described as being “founded on true Conservative principles”.