Defending the government amid criticism of its response to the refugee crisis, Boris Johnson told Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews programme the UK would be "generous" to those fleeing Ukraine, and details of this second visa scheme - where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict - would be announced next week.

The prime minister said: "On Monday, you'll get from the levelling up secretary, you'll get the programme that will allow people to come in, so (if) people want to welcome (refugees) into their own homes, they can do so."

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Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will set out details of a new "sponsored" humanitarian route to allow Ukrainians without family links to the UK to come to the country. This will include a hotline and webpage where individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to offer rooms to those escaping the conflict.

Ministers held a cross-departmental meeting last night to thrash out the details of the scheme, but it is understood some questions remain unresolved.

Key developments:
• Putin's forces edge closer to Kyiv - as mayor says men and women who fled capital returning to fight
• Russia to label Meta an "extremist organisation" for allowing posts calling for Putin's death
• Boris Johnson has told Sky News it has been "deeply upsetting" to reject calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine
• The UN Security Council meets today to discuss Russia's claims that the US and Ukraine are developing biological weapons - despite firm denials from both countries
• UK sanctions 386 Russian politicians who backed Putin's invasion

Refugees who enter through the new route are expected to be allowed to stay for an initial period of 12 months during which they will be entitled to work, but details around which benefits and public services they would have access to are still under discussion.

Officials will match them with offers of free accommodation from the sponsoring individuals and organisations.

They will be vetted to ensure the accommodation is safe and secure - and will have to agree to take the refugees for a minimum period - understood to be between three and six months - and demonstrate that they meet appropriate standards.

Technology minister Chris Philp said the details of plans will be set out "in the very near future".

He told Sky News: "We're going to be making announcements in the very near future about a scheme for UK local authorities, and indeed UK families, to welcome Ukrainian refugees, we've announced that principle and the details of how that scheme works will be laid out in the very near future."

A government spokesman said the details of the scheme were being worked on "at pace" and the routes put in place follow "extensive engagement with Ukrainian partners".

"This is a rapidly moving and complex picture and as the situation develops we will continue to keep our support under constant review," he added.

Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford said 1,305 visas for Ukrainian refugees had been issued as of Thursday morning, adding to peers on Friday: "Those figures are going up rapidly and that is a good thing."

Yesterday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that from Tuesday those trying to get from Ukraine to the UK who hold a national passport will be able to complete the whole application process online and will no longer have to go to a processing centre.

It followed criticism that the UK's response has been painfully slow in the face of the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War with around 2.2 million having fled the country.

However, the British Red Cross said the quickest way of fixing the problem would be to remove the requirement for a visa, while the Refugee Council said Ms Patel's announcement "does not go anywhere near far enough".