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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Samantha Lock (now); Maanvi Singh, Gloria Oladipo, Chris Michael and Sam Jones (earlier)

Markets shaken after Putin announces special military operation – as it happened

This blog is closing now but please continue to follow our live coverage on our new liveblog here. Thank you for reading.

The Russian rouble has fallen 5.4% to a record low on Thursday, after financial markets were shaken by Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

The Moscow Exchange said on Thursday morning it had suspended trading on all markets.

  • Brent crude oil prices crossed $100/barrel for first time since 2014.
  • Safe haven currencies such as the yen and US dollar rose, along with gold and other valuable commodities such as nickel and wheat.
  • Stock markets saw heavy losses with the the Hang Seng in Hong Kong off 3.1%, the Nikkei down 2%, Seoul losing 2.7% and the ASX in Sydney closing down 3%.

Big losses also coming in Europe.

Updated

US president Joe Biden recently spoke with Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy Volodymyr.

A White House statement reads:

President Zelenskiy reached out to me tonight and we just finished speaking. I condemned this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. I briefed him on the steps we are taking to rally international condemnation, including tonight at the United Nations Security Council.

He asked me to call on the leaders of the world to speak out clearly against President Putin’s flagrant aggression, and to stand with the people of Ukraine. Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the Leaders of the G7, and the United States and our Allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia. We will continue to provide support and assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

Air raid sirens sounding in Kyiv: reports

Reports of explosions are filtering in from Kyiv, as well as air raid sirens and rocket attacks on Ukrainian fighter jets at an airport outside the city.

Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and local media report, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a “special military operation” in the east.

Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk have launched large-scale strikes against Ukrainian forces along the line of contact, Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a separatist spokesman as saying on Thursday.

Guardian reporter Luke Harding who is based in Kyiv said explosions have been reported across the country, including in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Dnipro, Odessa, Slavayansk and Kramatorsk.

Two big blasts were reported being heard from the city of Mariupol one after another in an easterly direction, according to a Reuters witness.

Ukraine’s defence minister said Russia began intense shelling of Ukrainian military units in the east, as well as military control centres and airfields.

A photo provided by the Ukrainian President’s office appeared to show an explosion in the country’s capital, Kyiv, early Thursday morning.

Updated

Residents in Ukrainian cities appear to be fleeing in the wake of the Russian military attack. Here are some images on the news wires.

Cars leave the centre of Kyiv early on Thursday morning after Russia’s military operation began.
Cars leave the centre of Kyiv early on Thursday morning after Russia’s military operation began. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
People packed up and filling up with petrol in Mariupol.
Residents packed up and filling a car with petrol in Mariupol, south-east Ukraine. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
Military vehicles are seen on a street on the outskirts of Donetsk.
Military vehicles are seen on a street on the outskirts of Donetsk. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
People queue to use a cash machine in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine.
People queue to use a cash machine in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Vadim Ghirdă/AP

Ukraine’s foreign minister has called for more sanctions on Russia and requested military and financial assistance as well as humanitarian aid.

The European Union says it will “hold Moscow accountable” for what commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said was an “unjustified” attack on Ukraine.

“In these dark hours, our thoughts are with Ukraine and the innocent women, men and children as they face this unprovoked attack and fear for their lives,” she said on Twitter.

“We will hold the Kremlin accountable,” von der Leyen added.

EU leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels later on Thursday.

The British prime minister has responded to the Russian attack on Ukraine:

The Guardian’s Luke Harding is in Ukraine where president Volodymyr Zelenskiy just addressed the nation following reports from Ukrainian officials that Russian troops have landed in Odessa while others are crossing the border into Kharkiv.

Updated

Zelenskiy calls for martial law in national address

Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy made an urgent national address this morning, introducing martial law while urging people to remain calm.

In a brief video address which has since been published by the ministry of defence on Thursday morning, Zelenskiy said Russia has carried out missile strikes on Ukraine infrastructure and on Ukrainian border guards with explosions being heard in many cities across the country.

He added that he spoken with US president Joe Biden, and told Ukrainians to stay home and to stay calm: “The army works. I will be with you all the time. Stay strong. We will win because we are Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine”

Zelenskiy also said Ukraine will introduce martial law on all territories of the state, Reuters reports.

Updated

Russian troops land in Odessa and Mariupol, Ukraine officials say

Ukrainian officials say Russian troops have landed in Odessa while others are crossing the border into Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian interior ministry made the announcement on Telegram, adding that rocket attacks are targeting Ukrainian fighter jets at an airport outside Kyiv.

Ukraine’s state emergency service says attacks have been launched against 10 Ukrainian regions, primarily in the east and south of the country.

At least seven “powerful” airstrikes on Vasilkovsky airport outside Kyiv, where Ukraine’s military fighter bombers are kept, Kyiv command says

Guardian senior reporter Peter Beaumont tells us if the reports coming in from around Ukraine are accurate, this is far from a being a limited operation by Russia.

Instead it looks like military operations of different kinds are being launched in a broad crescent from Odessa in the south-west along the coast eastwards towards Mariupol, through to Kharkiv further north and finally Kyiv at the top of the crescent.

While a lot of reported attacks so far appear to have involved missile strikes, there are unconfirmed reports now via Ifax and elsewhere of troops landing in the south and crossing the border near Kharkiv too.

Updated

Ukraine’s deputy interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko, has also confirmed a Russian invasion has begun.

In a statement posted to his official Facebook page, the minister said:

The invasion has begun. There have just been missiles on the military headquarters, airports, military warehouses, near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnieper.

Gunfire at the border is underway. From this day, there is a new geopolitical reality in the world”

Updated

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has made a direct plea to Russian present Putin, saying: “In the name of humanity bring your troops back to Russia.”

Guterres, who has served as secretary-general since 2017, added that today’s actions are the “saddest moment in my tenure”.

Ukraine confirms Russia's 'full-scale invasion'

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has confirmed Russia’s “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine.

Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes.

This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”

Russia's UN envoy justifies military action under article 51 of UN charter

Russia’s representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, has justified Russia’s military operations under article 51 of the UN charter, which allows for “self-defence”.

Nebenzya defended Russia’s decision to take military action in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council held just moments earlier.

According to Reuters, Nebenzya told the United Nations security council of Putin’s announcement of a special military operation in eastern Ukraine.

The root of today’s crisis around Ukraine is the actions of Ukraine itself, who for many years were sabotaging its obligations.”

Nebenzya is presumably referring to the Minsk agreement.

Russia ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya
Russia ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock

He also claimed that the Russian operation aimed to protect residents in the Russian-backed separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, “who for eight years have been cowering from Ukraine’s shelling.”

Nebenzya went on to say that “Ukrainian provocation against those in Donbas not only has not stopped but has intensified,” which he said prompted separatist leaders in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk to request Russian assistance.

Ukraine’s UN ambassador responded, declaring Russian president Putin declared “a war on my country”.

Updated

The British ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has said that a “wholly unprovoked” attack on Ukraine is under way.

“A wholly unprovoked attack on a peaceful country is unfolding. Horrified,” she said in a tweet on Thursday morning.

“Just because you’ve prepared and thought about this possibility for weeks and months doesn’t mean it isn’t shocking when it actually happens.”

Updated

Biden says Putin has made 'unprovoked and unjustified' attack

US president Joe Biden has delivered a statement on Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine.

A White House statement reads:

The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces.

President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.

Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”

Biden said he will meet his G7 counterparts in the morning [EST] before speaking to the American people to announce the “further consequences the United States and our Allies and partners will impose on Russia for this needless act of aggression” against Ukraine and global peace and security.

“Jill and I are praying for the brave and proud people of Ukraine,” Biden added.

Updated

Here is a snap from the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reporting from Lviv in western Ukraine.

After a sleepless night in Ukraine in which many people here were expecting a Russian attack to begin and remained glued to their phones throughout the night, reports of explosions have begun coming in from various cities in the last few minutes. On a live broadcast from Kyiv just now CNN’s Mathew Chance has described hearing 4-5 loud bangs that he could not identify.

A report on Ifax also reported gunfire near Kyiv’s Boryspil airport, again so far unconfirmed as A Nato official told Reuters ban invasion appeared to be underway.

There were also initial albeit unconfirmed details coming in of explosions being heard in Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Odesa and Mariupol.

The reports follow hard on the heels of a speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin announcing that he was ordering a military operation against Ukraine – declaring war on Ukraine in other words. Putin added that any foreign attempt to interfere with Russian action would lead to ‘consequences they have never seen.’

Accusing the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demands to stop Ukraine from joining Nato and offer Moscow security guarantees Putin said the Russian military operation aimed to ensure a “demilitarisation” and “de-Nazification” – in his words – of Ukraine.

Putin said Ukrainian servicemen who lay down arms will be able to safely leave the zone of combat.

So far, where I am in Lviv in Ukraine’s west, it remains quiet.

Updated

Financial markets have been rocked by developments in Ukraine and we’re seeing large falls on the major Asia Pacific indices where Thursday’s session is already underway.

The Nikkei in Tokyo has dropped 1.9%, Seoul is down 2.3% and the ASX in Sydney has plunged 3%. The Hang Seng has dropped 2.82%. Bitcoin has dropped another 5.4% as riskier assets took a pounding in the wake of reports of explosions across Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s bellicose address.

But safe havens such as gold, the US dollar and a range of commodities including nickel, and wheat have all spiked upwards.

Multiple reports are coming in of the sounds of explosions being heard across Ukraine, this morning.

“Two booms heard from my apartment on Khreshatyk, Kyiv in the past 3 minutes,” CNN reporter Neil Hauer said.

Other reports of a large explosion in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine are also filtering through.

A witness in Kyiv told Reuters they also reported hearing a series of distant loud noises similar to the firing of artillery, according to the news agency.

Updated

Putin says he 'wants to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” Ukraine'

More from Putin’s address:

  • The Russian president says he wants to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” Ukraine Putin has also called on Ukrainian soldiers to put down their weapons and go home, according to Reuters, citing the Russian news agency Tass.
  • The Russian president adds that “in case of foreign interference, Russia will act immediately”.
  • Responsibility for bloodshed will be on the hands of the “Ukrainian regime”
  • Russia’s response “will be instant if anyone tries to take it on”
  • He tells Ukrainians that “your fathers and grandfathers did not fight so you could help ‘neo-Nazis’”

Russian forces will carry out 'special military operation' in Ukraine, says Putin

Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will carry out a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

In an address to the Russian people under way now and coinciding with the United nations security council meeting, the Russian president also said:

  • Clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces are “inevitable” and “only a question of time”.
  • Further nato expansion and its use of Ukraine’s territory are unacceptable
  • The Russian military operation aims to “protect people”
  • Circumstances “demand decisive action from Russia”

Updated

The UK’s representative Dame Barbara Woodward has wrapped up her speech now.

For months, Russia has been holding a gun to Ukraine’s head. Now, Putin’s finger is on the trigger.”

US representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield took to the floor with an emphatic plea to Russia.

We are here tonight because we believe along with Ukraine that a full-scale further invasion into Ukraine by Russia is imminent.

Tonight we’re seeing the Russians close airspace, move troops into Donbas and move forces into combat-ready positions.

This is a perilous moment and we’re here for one reason, and one reason only: to ask Russia to stop.

Return to your borders. Send your troops, your tanks, and your planes back to their barracks and hangars. And send your diplomats to the negotiating table. Back away from the brink, before it is too late.”

Thomas-Greenfield added that Russia called previous US predictions “hysterical”. She added:

Russia said we were lying. Russia said we were supplying the world with misinformation. But what we said would happen has come to pass, for all the world to see.”

Albania’s representative Ferit Hoxha has called the situation a “senseless madness”.

Ukrainians are facing another aggression just because they dare to exist.

Russian wars have nothing to do with its security.

This is a confrontation between Russia and international law.”

Updated

UN secretary general ⁦Antonio Guterres has just addressed the UN security council meeting.

Guterres addressed Russian president Putin directly:

If indeed an operation is being prepared I have only one thing to say.

Putin stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died.”

Updated

Another emergency UN security council meeting on Ukraine is set to get underway.

Russia’s UN representative Vasily Nebenzya has just told reporters: “I’m starting to enjoy nightly meetings.”

You can follow the live coverage below:

Updated

Ukraine airspace is closed

Flights of civil aircraft across Ukraine airspace have been suspended after a notice to airmen (Notam) was released. Earlier, airports in the Ukraine cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia were closed to traffic.

A fuller picture of the atmosphere in Kyiv is emerging as many in the city say they are unable to sleep.

“It feels like almost all people I know are not sleeping,” Kyvi Independent journalist Oleksiy Sorokin said in a Twitter post early on Thursday. “It feels as if the whole country is awake this night.”

Fellow Kyiv Independent journalist Anastasiia Lapatina said: “Seems like hundreds, and probably thousands, of Ukrainians are awake right now. It’s 4 in the morning. Scrolling, waiting, texting. What a horrific moment.”

“It feels like almost all people I know are not sleeping,” Oleksiy Sorokin, a Kyvi-based journalist said in a Twitter post early on Thursday. “It feels as if the whole country is awake this night.”

“Kyiv is quiet right now. Not a single car on the road when I walked outside,” foreign correspondent, Trey Yingst, added. “There are millions of innocent civilians here who do not want conflict. There are no winners in war.”

Updated

State of play

It’s a busy night tonight with officials in Ukraine and in the west saying that Russia is on the brink of launching an invasion.

The last few hours have seen western leaders scramble to arrange talks in a last-ditch effort to avert war in Ukraine.

The United Nations security council is set to hold another emergency meeting in the coming hour to discuss Ukraine. Here’s what we know so far:

  • The United States has said that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent, and that Russian troops and separatist forces surrounding the country were in combat-ready positions.
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said “everything seems to be in place” for a Russian invasion of Ukraine but still sees a chance to “avert a major aggression”.
  • The UN has confirmed that there will be an emergency meeting of the security council to discuss the Ukraine crisis at 9.30pm on Wednesday, New York time. That is 4.30am in Ukraine and 2.30am GMT, or around 30 minutes from now.
  • Russia has banned civil aircraft from airspace around north-eastern Ukraine while the three Ukrainian airports of Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been closed to traffic until Thursday morning, according to a recent notice to airmen.
  • Ukrainian media are reporting at least six government websites are down in an alleged cyberattack early on Thursday morning.
  • At least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk early on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness has said.
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, gave a 10-minute national address to his country in the early hours of Thursday morning pleading for peace and adding that he believed Russia had approved an offensive against Ukraine.
  • Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine would defend itself in the face of invasion and rejected Moscow’s claims that his country poses a threat to Russia, lamenting that a Russian invasion would cost tens of thousands of lives. He also said Russian president Vladimir Putin had not replied to his invitation to hold talks.

Updated

Reuters has just confirmed our earlier report that the three Ukrainian airports of Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been closed to traffic until Thursday morning, citing a recent notice to airmen.

Updated

US state department spokesperson Ned Price has issued another warning about “Kremlin disinformation campaigns”. He says there is no evidence to support Ukraine is committing genocide or conducting attacks in Donetsk or Luhansk.

The Kremlin continues to create false narratives to justify invasion. It is fabricating supposed Ukrainian provocations in order to evacuate civilians from parts of eastern Ukraine.

Metadata from evacuation videos filmed by Russia-backed officials exposed they were filmed February 16, 2 days before the alleged attacks occurred. (February 16, not January 16)

Updated

Eerie scenes from Kyiv are emerging after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a state of emergency across Ukraine.

“The city itself still feels calm, if a little emptier than usual. There were armoured vehicles earlier on Maidan square,” Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times Polina Ivanova said in a tweet in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Blinken says 'everything is in place' for Russian invasion

US secretary of state Antony Blinken says “everything seems to be in place” for a Russian invasion of Ukraine but still sees a chance to “avert a major aggression”.

Speaking to NBC News he said:

Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine.”

Blinken also told ABC News that Russia is “putting the final touches” on having forces in places for a “full-on invasion” and said the US has “certainly seen the presence of Russian forces inside of Ukraine.”

The secretary of state did not elaborate on the Russian forces he said they have seen inside Ukraine and could not give “specific numbers,” but “everything we’ve seen over the last 24 to 48 hours has Russia of putting the final touches on having its forces in place across all of Ukraine’s borders, to the north, to the east, to the south, to be ready for a full-on invasion.”

Updated

Russia has reportedly banned civil aircraft from airspace around northeastern Ukraine while flight paths along the Ukraine Russia border are reportedly closed and runways appear to be blocked in Ukraine’s airports.

Ukrainian airports in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia are closed and runways are blocked in case of a possible attack, the Kyiv Independent reports, citing a report from ZN media.

The airport in Kherson is to be closed next.

Aviation analyst Alex Macheras said multiple airlines, including European carriers, have been informed by aviation risk management agencies that Ukraine is now considered a “do not fly” area.

According to CNN, Russia has issued a notice banning civil aircraft from flight routes bordering north-eastern Ukraine.

“Russia issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen or notice to air missions) that covers a corridor of territory where Russian forces have gathered over the past weeks,” the outlet reported.

Updated

Stocks in Asia Pacific are being hammered on Thursday morning as the grim drumbeat of war in Ukraine becomes louder by the minute.

The Australian ASX200 index was first cab off the rank and is down 2.3% after 90 minutes of trading.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average is down 0.8% and the Kospi in Seoul has fallen 1.4%.

A trader works at the New York stock exchange where stocks fell heavily on Wednesday.
A trader works at the New York stock exchange where stocks fell heavily on Wednesday. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

It follows steep losses on Wall Street where the Dow lost 1.4%, S&P 500 dropped 1.8%, Nasdaq plunged 2.6%.

The S&P 500 – the broadest measure of shares in the US – has fallen 10% since its record high on 3 January, meaning it is officially in a correction phase. The Dow is only a fraction off the same metric.

The Nasdaq has tumbled more than 16% so far this year.

Updated

At least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk early on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness has said.

Following the blasts, four military trucks could be seen heading for the scene.

Hours earlier, the Kremlin said two separatist breakaway regions in Ukraine had asked for Russian help to repel “aggression” by the Ukrainian army.

Russian invasion of Ukraine is ‘ready to go’, Pentagon says

The United States has said that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent, and that Russian troops and separatist forces surrounding the country were in combat-ready positions.

Pentagon spokesperson, John F Kirby, told reporters.

Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border ... They are ready to go.

They could attack at any time ... with a significant military force.”

The UN has confirmed that there will be an emergency meeting of the security council to discuss the Ukraine crisis at 9.30pm on Wednesday, New York time. That is 4.30am in Ukraine and 2.30am GMT, or around two hours from now.

Updated

France is urging citizens to leave Ukraine “without delay” amid mounting concerns that Russia is preparing a full-scale attack.

France’s foreign ministry said the decision was made in the context of “serious tensions caused by the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders” and and in light of the establishment of the state of emergency passed by the Ukrainian Parliament.

In a statement, as reported by Agence France-Presse, the ministry said:

French citizens finding themselves in Ukraine should leave the country without delay.

Any travel to the border areas in the north and east of the country is strictly discouraged.”

Ukrainian media are reporting at least six government websites are down in an alleged cyberattack.

“Cyber attack also hit websites of ministries of infrastructure, strategic industries and education,” the Kyiv Independent newspaper reports.

According to the publication, the websites of the cabinet of ministers, foreign and agricultural ministries and the security service are down.

Updated

The United Nations security council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday night to discuss Ukraine, diplomats said, after separatists in eastern Ukraine asked for Russia for help to repel “aggression”, Reuters is reporting.

'We will defend ourselves’, vows Zelenskiy

The Ukrainian president said he is pleading for peace while Vladimir Putin would not accept his call.

In an emotional address address, Zelenskiy rejected Moscow’s claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and lamented that a Russian invasion would cost tens of thousands of lives.

The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace.”

He said the people of Ukraine wanted peace, but “if someone attempts to take away our land, our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves”.

By attacking, you will see our faces, not our backs, but our faces.”

Zelenskiy said the people of Russia were being lied to and that the possibility of war also “depends on you”. “Who can stop [the war]? People. These people are among you, I am sure,” he said.

Updated

Zelenskiy makes national address, says Russia has approved offensive against Ukraine

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has just given a 10-minute national address to his country in the early hours of Thursday morning, local time.

Zelenskiy said Russia had approved an offensive against Ukraine and said Russian president Vladimir Putin had not replied to his invitation to hold talks, Reuters reports, citing the address in which he spoke in both Ukrainian and Russian.

He also warned that any flare-up from Russia could “burn everything” and create a catastrophic crisis.

Speaking in Russian, he called on Russians to not believe the narratives about Ukraine being presented on Russian state television.

I initiated a telephone call with the president of the Russian Federation. Result: silence.

This step could be the start of a big war on the European continent. The whole world is talking about what could happen any day now.

Any provocation. Any flare-up – one that could burn everything.”

The address has since been posted on Telegram.

Updated

Hello, it’s Samantha Lock with you as my colleague Maanvi Singh signs off.

French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity after a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Elysée Palace said in a statement late on Wednesday.

“[Macron] also praised the Ukrainian President’s composure in the current situation,” the French presidency said.

Support that the European Union can provide to Ukraine will be on the agenda of the meeting of the European Council on Thursday, the Elysée Palace added.

Updated

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia had not responded to his invitation to hold talks.

In a national address posted on Telegram, Zelenskiy warned that any flare-up from Russian could “burn everything” and create a catastrophic crisis. Addressing Russians directly, in their language, he said that the narratives they were being fed by Russian media were far from Ukrainians’ reality.

Here’s some translation from the FT’s Max Seddon:

Updated

Here’s the Guardian’s Luke Harding on the mood in Ukraine tonight.

Updated

Ukraine is requesting a meeting of the UN security council, in response to the request by the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk for Russian military assistance.

Updated

Ukrainians in the UK have called on the west to provide military aid to their homeland, ahead of a protest outside the Russian embassy in London tonight.

Wolodymyr Pawluk, chair of the London branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, called on the west to provide both military and economic aid to help Ukrainians resist Russian forces.

Pawluk, who said the AUGB has so far raised £50,000 towards an emergency humanitarian fund, added: “We understand the Nato troops aren’t going to fight on Ukrainian soil. Well, if they’re not willing to fight, send us the armour [so] that we can fight [for] ourselves.”

Other Ukrainians in the UK told the Guardian they want the west to impose much tougher sanctions on Russia.

Olesya Khromeychuk, director of the Ukrainian Institute London, said: “Sanctions, right now, don’t match the strong declarations of support we heard from British politicians. The UK needs to decide: to sacrifice the Russian wealth, including that which comes in the form of donations to political parties, or be laughed at by the Kremlin and lose credibility around the world.”

Marta Mulyak, head of the London branch of Plast National Scout Organisation of Ukraine, said: “Seeing the west being so weak is very unsettling. The UK sanctioned five banks and three oligarchs. It’s a joke. It’s not about saving lives, it’s about saving your profits.”

Ukrainian communities around the UK have also spoken about the trauma and anxiety experienced by the diaspora amid escalating Russian military action against their homeland.

Wol Wowczuk, secretary of the Leicester Ukrainian Centre, said: “It’s shock, it’s horror, it’s disbelief, it’s anger, it’s great upset. And it’s not knowing what’s going to happen next.”

Petro Chymera, head of the Ukrainian Youth Association in Bradford, said: “We’ve seen it coming, but when it finally happens it is really shocking. That speech that Putin made on Monday has got everyone scared of the future. It was threatening the very existence of Ukraine.

“It’s really important that the west unites and stands up for Ukraine. Because we can’t have any more concessions. We’re fighting for Ukraine’s very existence.”

Updated

Summary

Here’s an update of what’s happened so far today:

  • Donetsk and Luhansk asked Russia for military aid, a move many experts are calling the possible final pretext for a Russia invasion.
  • Ukraine imposed a national state of emergency for the next 30 days.
  • US President Joe Biden announced sanctions on the company that owns Nord Stream 2, the controversial pipeline project.
  • Russia began evacuating its embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
  • Russia moved nearly 100% of troops into invasion-ready position, according to a senior US defence official. Additional reports said US intelligence warned Ukraine that an all-out attack was imminent.
  • The UN general assembly held a meeting about the Ukraine crisis, with several member states calling for Russia to deescalate and spelling out the consequences of an invasion.

Updated

More on life for Ukraine residents as a Russian invasion looms: here’s a Guardian gallery depicting Ukrainian civilians, soldiers and other aspects of life on the country’s eastern front, shot by photographer Gaëlle Girbes.

Updated

Amid escalating aggression from Russia, parents in Ukraine have been trying to protect their children in case of a full-out attack, with some sending their kids to school wearing stickers with their blood types listed, reports NBC.

Updated

The US Pentagon believes that “additional Russian military forces” are moving into the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.

From CNN’s Kaitlan Collins:

Updated

Donetsk and Luhansk 'ask Russia for military aid'

Leaders of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine have asked Russia for help with aggression from the Ukrainian army, reports Ifax citing Russian government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Many experts are pointing to these requests as the latest (possibly final) pretext that Russia could use to launch a full attack on Ukraine.

Updated

More on the plant in Armyansk that was evacuated: Ukraine’s military intelligence has tweeted out a statement that Ukraine has not planned and will not plan any sabotage of the facility, calling such statements false.

From the Ukraine military intelligence account:

We officially declare that Ukraine has not planned and does not plan any act of sabotage at this facility and refutes all statements on this issue.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted out recently that a chemical plant in Crimea was evacuated today, saying that the move could be preparation for another staged provocation from Russia.

Kuleba wrote:

Worrying reports from Crimea on the entire night shift of Titan chemicals plant in Armyansk evacuated from the facility. This might be a preparation for another staged provocation by Russia. Moscow seems to have no limits in attempts to falsify pretexts for further aggression.

Following the announcement of Ukraine imposing a 30-day state of emergency order, here is a video explainer from BBC on what the order means for the Ukraine crisis.

Explainer from BBC on what state of emergency means for Ukraine crisis.

Here is a further breakdown of what measures Ukraine can implement following the approval of the state of emergency order from journalist Oleksiy Sorokin:

Ukraine imposes national state of emergency

The Ukraine parliament just voted to approve a state of emergency.

The state of emergency decree will begin on 24 February and last 30 days.

More details to come.

Several European countries, along with stationed US military, are preparing to accommodate upwards of 1 million refugees from Ukraine if Russia continues with an invasion, reports the Washington Post.

From the Post’s Loveday Morris:

A new war on the edge of Europe has the potential to unleash the continent’s biggest humanitarian crisis since the Syrian civil war triggered the arrival of more than 1 million refugees in 2015. At every level, plans are complicated by huge unknowns. Could there be a trickle of people seeking safety inside the borders of the European Union — or potentially millions?

Polish officials have indicated that a worst-case scenario could see as many as 1 million people arriving from Ukraine in case of a full-scale Russian invasion. Hungary, which also borders Ukraine, has said it is sending troops to the border, partly in preparation for refugees. Romania has said it is considering refugee camps.

But Poland, which is already home to as many as 2 million Ukrainians and shares more than 300 miles of border with the country, is expected to bear the brunt of any influx. Officials in Przemysl, a Polish city next to the border, said the city was asked on Monday whether it had space to house as many as 1,000 Americans leaving by land.

As urgency has built, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson traveled to Warsaw earlier this week, where she said Europe was “well prepared” for an influx. But in towns along the border, some city officials don’t feel the same as they work on their own to designate gym halls, schools student dorms as potential waystations.

Read the full article here (paywall).

Updated

An update from inside Ukraine’s parliament as the language of an emergency decree issued earlier today is finalized:

From Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko:

The mood is sombre in the Parliament of Ukraine as MPs await the final text of the State of Emergency decree. Voting to start in several minutes.

Biden announces sanctions on Nord Stream 2 company

The White House has issued a statement from Joe Biden, confirming the president’s decision to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2:

Since Russia began deploying troops to the Ukrainian border, the United States has worked closely with our allies and partners to deliver a strong, unified response. As I said when I met with Chancellor Scholz earlier this month, Germany has been a leader in that effort, and we have closely coordinated our efforts to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia further invaded Ukraine.

Yesterday, after further close consultations between our two governments, Germany announced that it would halt certification of the pipeline. Today, I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers. These steps are another piece of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. As I have made clear, we will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.

Through his actions, President Putin has provided the world with an overwhelming incentive to move away from Russian gas and to other forms of energy. I want to thank Chancellor Scholz for his close partnership and continued dedication to holding Russia accountable for its actions.

According to my colleague Joan E Greve, Biden had previously blocked congressionally approved sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, out of concern for the relationship with Germany, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision to halt the project’s certification has now cleared the way.

Updated

As the west sounded the alarm about the Kremlin ordering troops into eastern Ukraine and decried it as an invasion, Russian state media painted a completely different picture - of Moscow coming to the rescue of war-torn areas tormented by Ukraine’s aggression and bringing them peace, reports the Associated Press.

TV presenters hailed the “historic” day and professed the end of suffering for the residents of the breakaway regions.

“You paid with your blood for these eight years of torment and anticipation,” anchor Olga Skabeyeva told residents of the areas known as Donbas during a popular political talk show Tuesday morning on Russia 1 state TV. “Russia will now be defending Donbas.”

TV pundit Vladimir Solovyev echoed those sentiments on his morning show on state Vesti.FM radio. “We will ensure their safety,” he declared. “It is now dangerous to fight with them because one will now have to fight with the Russian army.”

Channel One, another popular state-funded TV station, struck a more festive tone, with its correspondent in Donetsk asserting that local residents “say it is the best news over the past years of war.”

“Now they have confidence in the future and that the years-long war will finally come to an end,” she said.

Whether Russians are buying it is another question.

A Facebook campaign with the hashtag “I’m not staying silent”, launched by independent Russian news site Holod urged people “to express their opinion about the war aloud - and also to remember that each of us has something connecting us to Ukraine”. It brought dozens of posts sharing memories about Ukraine and condemning the Kremlin’s moves.

Still, many have voiced their wholehearted support for Putin’s decision.

“It should have been done a long time ago,” said Irina Nareyko, a Moscow resident. “These poor people who identify as Russian, who mainly identify as Orthodox, who cannot wait anymore and live expecting to be killed we should have accepted them a long time ago.”

Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster, said that according to its poll data, more than half of Russians were ready to support Putin’s moves.

“The situation, as it is understood by the majority, is that the west is pressuring Ukraine” to make a move against the rebel-held areas, “and Russia needs to somehow help”, Volkov told the AP.

The narrative of Ukraine having aggressive designs on Donbas has been actively promoted by the Russian authorities - along with accusations that the west is pumping Ukraine full of weapons and warmongering.

The official rhetoric heated up last week, when Putin charged that “what is now happening in Donbas is genocide”. Popular newscasts and political talk shows on state TV channels started widely using the term.

Prominent news anchor Dmitry Kiselev likened what was happening in Donbas to second world war atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. “It is, simply, solidarity with the genocide of today,” he charged on Russia 1s flagship news show.

Updated

Russia begins evacuating Kyiv embassy

Russia has begun evacuating its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

According to the state news agency Tass, Russia cleared everyone from its diplomatic posts in Ukraine following the announcement of a plan to evacuate.

As of Wednesday afternoon the Russian flag is no longer flying over the Kyiv embassy. Police surround the building.

According to AP, after weeks of trying to project calm, Ukrainian authorities signalled increasing concern. The foreign ministry has recommended all Ukrainians living in Russia return, saying Moscow’s “aggression” could lead to a significant reduction in consular services.

Ukraine’s national security and defence council chief, Oleksiy Danilov, called for a national state of emergency, subject to parliamentary approval. He said it will be up to regional authorities to determine which measures to apply, but they could include additional security at public facilities, traffic restrictions and additional transport and document checks.

A wave of denial-of-service attacks temporarily knocked out websites for the Ukrainian parliament, cabinet and foreign ministry, and caused delays to the defence and interior ministry websites. Many of the same sites were knocked offline last week too, in attacks that the US and UK quickly blamed on the GRU, Russian military intelligence.

Updated

The Brandenburg Gate, the landmark in the German capital Berlin, has been lit up blue and yellow in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. In Paris, City Hall was similarly illuminated in the country’s national colours.

The Brandenburg Gate illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on 23 February.
The Brandenburg Gate illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on 23 February. Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

“We are showing our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the many Berliners with Ukrainian roots but also with the many Russians who want peace in Russia and Ukraine,” said the mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey.

The EU is ready to launch a second set of sanctions against Russia if its troops move beyond Ukraine separatist regions, said Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s executive vice-president.

“If there is further Russian aggression and further incursion into Ukraine territory we are willing to step up our response also in terms of sanctions,” Dombrovskis told Reuters.

Dombrovskis sad sanctions would include export controls, for example. “Coming with strong sanctions against Russia is going to have some impact on the EU economy and we need to be ready for this,” he said.

“But here we have the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine at stake, and we have the broader security architecture at sake, so we need to be able to react and also take some economic cost, if it is necessary.”

Updated

More from the Guardian’s Julian Borger about reports of an imminent attack on Ukraine:

The Guardian can confirm that the warning of an imminent attack has gone out to Ukraine and allies and that the UK shared the US assessment.

Diplomats I have been talking to are aware the west has cried wolf once before, on 16 February, so there are caveats.

There was also a scare last night, when some intelligence suggested an all-out attack was about to happen but it turned out to be a false alarm.

The bottom line is there are large Russian formations on the move, so the assessment is that an onslaught could be unleashed at any time.

Updated

Russia moved nearly 100% of troops into invasion-ready position, says senior US defence official

More on previous reporting about US intelligence warning Ukraine of an imminent attack: A senior US defence official has said that Russia has moved nearly 100% of its troops into position needed for an invasion.

The official was not able to confirm if additional troops had moved into the Donbas area.

“They are literally ready to go now if they get the order to go,” said the senior official regarding the 150,000 Russian troops that are at Ukraine’s borders.

The senior official added that the US will do “as much as we can as long as we can” to monitor Russian troop activity from air space, reported Reuters.

Updated

Two separate convoys of military equipment that did not have visible insignia were seen moving towards the city of Donetsk located in eastern Ukraine, reported Reuters.

One convoy included nine tanks as well as an infantry fighting vehicle. The other convoy included trucks and fuel tanks, according to a reporter on the ground.

Updated

There are reports today that US intelligence has warned Ukraine that an all-out attack is imminent.

Newsweek was the first to report this story, saying that the US warned the offensive would come within 48 hours.

CNN’s intelligence correspondent, Katie Bo Lillis has said her reporting confirmed the Newsweek story.

More from the Guardian’s Julian Borger on the developing report:

Katie Bo Lillis did not repeat the 48 hours timeline, just that an attack was said to be imminent, but she did say the city of Kharkiv would be particularly at risk.

US intelligence has given warnings of an all-out attack before, on February 16, which came and went, though some accounts said that US assessment was that Russian commanders were told to be ready from February 16, not necessarily for an attack on that day.

This story is developing - more to come.

Updated

The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also spoke earlier on the Ukraine crisis, spelling out the dire consequences of Russia invading Ukraine for both countries and the global community.

Thomas-Greenfield speaking on how an invasion would affect Russian civilians:

Ordinary Russians should be asking how many Russian lives Putin is willing to sacrifice to feed his ambitions. If Russia continues down this path, it could ... create a new refugee crisis with as many as 5 million more people displaced.

Thomas-Greenfield also added that a Russian invasion was something that no UN member state could look away from:

History tells us that looking the other way is ultimately the more costly path.

Urging cooperation between UN member states to counter Russia’s aggression, Thomas-Greenfield said:

Now is the time to get off the sidelines. Let us together show Russia that it is isolated and alone in its aggressive actions.

Updated

The Russian representative to the UN also spoke earlier during the meeting, accusing Ukraine of being anti-Russian and seemingly unhappy about UN involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

During his remarks, Vasily Nebenzya accused Ukraine of genocide and human rights violations against those living in Donbas, a claim that several sources have flagged as false.

Nebenzya also questioned the title of the UN assembly meeting, arguing that the title should reflect Ukraine losing territory due to its treatment of its own citizens.

Nebenzya, as he wrapped up his speech, said:

We urge you today to focus efforts on reigning in Kyiv and deterring it from conducting a new military adventure that might cost the whole of Ukraine very dearly. Thank you.

Updated

Full quote from the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, warning the world about the global consequences of the Ukraine crisis:

I warn every nation in this distinguished chamber, no one will be able to sit out this crisis if President Putin decides that he can move forward with his aggression against Ukraine. Your governments and people will face painful consequences.

Updated

United Nations general assembly meeting happening now

The United Nations general assembly meeting is happening now with delegates discussing the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s ongoing aggression.

The UN chief, António Guterres, said: “If the conflict in Ukraine expands, the world could see a scale and severity of need unseen for many years.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, also spoke this morning to the general assembly about Russia’s aggression, urging other delegates that the crisis affects everyone.

“What is happening right now in eastern Ukraine ... must be a concern for everyone. For all of you,” said Kuleba.

“No one will be able to sit out this crisis.”


Updated

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, recommended today that Spaniards left Ukraine temporarily as soon as possible, reported Reuters.

“We recommend to temporarily leave the country as soon as possible and advise against travelling to Ukraine under any circumstances,” said Albares to a parliamentary committee.

Albares confirmed that about 334 Spaniards remained in Ukraine.

Updated

The EU has now adopted its first sanctions package in response to “the decision by the Russian Federation to proceed with the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities, and the subsequent decision to send Russian troops into these areas.”


Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said:

Such decisions are illegal and unacceptable. They violate international law, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia’s own international commitments and further escalate the crisis.

A quote from the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, at the alliance’s Stronger Together conference happening today:

There is much at stake in today’s crisis; the risk of conflict is real. Russia is using force and ultimatums not only to redraw borders in Europe, but to try to rewrite the entire global security architecture.

Updated

The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, is currently speaking at a conference with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, highlighting some developments in the Russia-Ukraine situation.

You can also watch the conference here.

Updated

Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation confirmed that Ukrainian banks were hit by a DDOS attack on Wednesday, following a series of cyber-attacks last week, reported Reuters.

Many Ukrainian state websites, such as the government and foreign ministry home page, were not accessible today.

Ukrainian authorities also confirmed that they had seen online warnings this week about hackers planning major attacks on government agencies, banks, and other sectors.

This story is developing – stay tuned.

Updated

In his letter of invitation to tomorrow’s summit of EU heads of state and government, the European Council president, Charles Michel writes:

“The use of force and coercion to change borders has no place in the 21st century.

“I would like to thank you for the unity shown over the last days notably through the swift adoption today of the sanctions package by council.

“The aggressive actions by the Russian Federation violate international law and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. They also undermine the European security order.

“It is important that we continue to be united and determined and jointly define our collective approach and actions. Therefore, I would like to invite you for a special European Council on Thursday 24 February, which will take place in person in Brussels and start at 20.00.

“I would like us to discuss: the latest developments; how we protect the rules-based international order; how we deal with Russia, notably holding Russia accountable for its actions; how we will further support Ukraine and its people.

“I look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening.”

Updated

Reuters, citing Interfax, is reporting that another DDOS cyber-attack has started in Ukraine.

The Guardian understands that the attack has hit the websites of the parliament, cabinet ministers, the ministry of foreign affairs and the security service.

It follows earlier cyber-attacks.

Updated

EU leaders are to meet for an emergency summit on Thursday evening, diplomatic sources in Brussels have said. The 27 heads of state and government will debate how to further respond to Russian aggression.

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, tweeted:

The use of force and coercion to change borders has no place in the 21st century. I am calling a special European Council tomorrow in Brussels to discuss the latest developments related to Ukraine and Russia.

The issue of when to impose a second major tranche of sanctions is a sensitive one in Brussels.

The impact of punishing Russia through sanctions on the energy sector or by cutting Russia out of the Swift financial system - which moves money from bank to bank around the world - would not be evenly felt among the 27 member states.

Updated

Russia has started evacuating diplomatic staff from all of its missions in Ukraine, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a representative of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv.

The embassy and the consulate general in Odessa were seen on Wednesday with Russian flags taken down.

“Several cars left the territory of the consulate in the morning,” a member of the Ukrainian National Guard who was on duty near the Russian consulate in Odessa told Reuters.

Russia’s foreign ministry announced an evacuation of diplomatic staff from Ukraine for what it called safety reasons on Tuesday, a day after President Vladimir Putin recognised independence of two breakaway regions in Ukraine’s east and ordered Russian troops “to keep peace” there, while massing military along Ukrainian borders.

(Via Reuters)

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has demanded “immediate” security guarantees from the west and Moscow to avert a feared Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy made his comments as Russia began to evacuate diplomats from its Kyiv embassy after Moscow formally approved the use of military force abroad.

During a joint media appearance with the visiting leaders of Poland and Lithuania on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said:

Ukraine needs security guarantees. Clear, specific, and immediate. I believe that Russia must be among those countries giving clear security guarantees.

Zelenskiy said that he made repeated offers to meet President Putin in an effort to head off the threat of an all-out conflict breaking out in eastern Europe.

Many times now, I have offered the Russian president a chance to sit down at the negotiating table and talk. This is a question of dialogue.

He also thanked Poland and Lithuania, two close Ukrainian allies, for keeping their embassies in Kyiv open despite the rising fears of a Russian attack.

Zelenskiy at a joint press conference with his counterparts from Lithuania and Poland following their talks in Kyiv.
Zelenskiy at a joint press conference with his counterparts from Lithuania and Poland following their talks in Kyiv. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

It is an “obscene perversion” for Putin to speak of Russian soldiers acting as peacekeepers in Ukraine, Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, has said.

Speaking during a visit to Prague, Payne said:

Any suggestions that there is a legitimate basis for Russia’s actions are pure propaganda and disinformation.

The assertion by President Putin of Russian soldiers acting as peacekeepers is indeed an obscene perversion of the noble and vital role that generations of peacekeepers have played across the world.

(Via Reuters)

Marise Payne speaking at the 2022 Munich Security Conference last week.
Marise Payne speaking at the 2022 Munich Security Conference last week. Photograph: Alexandra Beier/Getty Images

Updated

In recent weeks, the crisis in Ukraine has been compared to discussions over the future of the democratically-run island of Taiwan. On Wednesday, Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, called on her government to be “vigilant”.

Denouncing Russia’s actions, Tsai said:

We should continue to strengthen the combat readiness of our forces in the Taiwan Strait to ensure our safety.

[In] the face of external forces attempting to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale in Taiwan’s society, all government units must be more vigilant against cognitive warfare.

She’s not the only one who has talked about Taiwan in relation to Ukraine.

At last week’s Munich Security Conference, Boris Johnson said in his warning to the international community: “If Ukraine is endangered, the shock will echo around the world. And those echoes will be heard in east Asia — will be heard in Taiwan.”

But the latest warning from Taipei – whose administration is currently run by the Democratic Progress party – adds to an existing chorus of concern for the island as Beijing refrains from condemning Moscow directly.

Of course, there are differences between Ukraine and Taiwan. For starters, as Chatham House’s senior China fellow, Dr Yu Jie, pointed out yesterday: “Ukraine is a full member of the UN, whereas Taiwan does not enjoy such status.”

Beijing is keen to dismiss such a comparison. “Taiwan is not Ukraine,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said on Wednesday. “Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact.” Beijing has long regarded Taiwan as its breakaway province.

Hua’s line echoes the views from Chinese government analysts. “This association is extremely wrong. The Taiwan issue is fundamentally different from the Ukraine issue,” said Cui Hongjian, who leads the Department for European Studies at the influential government thinktank China Institute of International Studies.

Cui admitted that it’s not only those from outside China who are linking Ukraine to Taiwan. Some of the comparisons, in fact, come from within China. “[They] view Russia’s approach to the issue of Ukraine as a sort of ‘model’ for the future resolution of the Taiwan question, and they advocate for closer imitation of Russia.”

Cui’s observation is very telling. He points at the rising nationalism inside China, and in particular in China’s cyberspace. The question is: would it sway Beijing’s view of the situation?

Updated

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has told Putin that Ankara does not recognise steps against Ukraine’s territorial integrity following Russia’s recognition of the two separatist republics in east Ukraine.

Turkey, a Nato member that borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both countries and opposes sanctions on principle. It has offered to mediate the crisis and warned against military conflict.

In a phone call, Erdoğan told Putin military conflict in the region would not benefit anyone and repeated his offer to help achieve a solution, his office said. Erdoğan also said he valued Putin’s close cooperation on regional issues and wanted to continue this.

President Erdoğan, who renewed his call for the matter to be resolved through dialogue, stated that it was important to bring diplomacy to the forefront, and that [Turkey] continued its constructive stance in Nato as well.

Earlier, Erdoğan was cited by media as saying Turkey could not abandon ties with Ukraine or Russia.

(Via Reuters)

Updated

This from PA - see Chris Bryant’s comments here:

Boris Johnson has issued a correction after he wrongly claimed that Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich was the subject of targeted sanctions by the UK government.

The prime minister tabled a written ministerial statement in the House of Commons to clarify such measures had not been imposed on the Russian-Israeli billionaire businessman.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson told MPs that Abramovich was “already facing sanctions” - a claim disputed by Labour MP Chris Bryant, among others.

In his new statement, the prime minister reiterated the UK government’s first wave of sanctions following Russia’s actions against Ukraine had seen “oligarchs at the heart of Putin’s inner circle and banks which have bankrolled the Russian occupation of Crimea” among those targeted.

He added on Wednesday:

Roman Abramovich has not been the subject of targeted measures. More generally anyone who comes to this country on an Israeli passport is a non-visa national. Israelis are required to obtain a visa if they want to live, work or study in the UK.

Abramovich had issues around his entrepreneurial visa in 2018. In October 2021, the businessman’s spokesperson confirmed he travelled to London as an Israeli citizen - therefore entering the United Kingdom without the need for a visa.

Channel 4’s international editor, Lindsey Hilsum, is one of quite a few journalists who point out that UK action against RT could have consequences for the BBC in Russia ...

Angus Roxburgh, a former BBC Moscow correspondent and consultant to the Kremlin, thinks the UK needs to rethink how it pursues sanctions. Going after Russian oligarchs, he writes for the Guardian, has little effect on Russian policy:

The idea that they [the oligarchs] influence his policies is pure fantasy. The proof of that is that sanctions regularly meted out on oligarchs since 2014 have made not one jot of difference to Putin’s policies. The west imposed sanctions over Crimea, the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet over Ukraine and the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. None of them elicited so much as an expression of regret, far less a change of course. What they did do, of course, was deepen Putin’s already simmering hatred of the west.”

Better, Roxburgh writes, to target the political class, “the members of the Duma, the Senate, the presidential council, the top echelons of the security and defence services, top state television employees”. He adds:

These men (and some women) draft, rubber-stamp, promote and carry out Putin’s decisions. Some of them also – unlike the oligarchs – actually advise him … These are the people to target – because when several thousand of the people Putin actually depends on begin to feel the consequences of his policies in their personal lives, there will be a groundswell of discontent.”

You can read the whole article here:

Continuing the sanctions theme, the deputy US Treasury secretary, Wally Adeyemo, has told CNBC that the US is prepared to withhold technology and resources from Russia if Vladimir Putin takes further action against Ukraine. Adeyemo said:

President Putin clearly has the ability to do much more than he has done so far.

The key thing that President Putin needs to consider is whether he wants to ensure that Russia’s economy is able to grow, that he has the resources he needs to be able to project power in the future. If he chooses to invade, what we’re telling him very directly, is that we’re going to cut that off.

We’re going to cut him off from western technology that’s critical to advancing his military, cut him off from western financial resources that will be critical for feeding his economy and also to enriching himself.”

Reuters reports that people familiar with the matter have told the news agency that the Biden administration could deprive Russia of a vast swath of low and high-tech US and foreign-made goods, from commercial electronics and computers to semiconductors and aircraft parts.

Updated

Ukraine deserves European Union candidate status, and Poland and Lithuania will support it in this goal, the presidents of the two countries said in a joint declaration with the Ukrainian president on Wednesday. Reuters carries the declaration, signed in Kyiv by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda:

We emphasise that, given the significant progress in the implementation of the Association Agreement and internal reforms, as well as the current security challenges, Ukraine deserves EU candidate status and Lithuania and Poland will support Ukraine in achieving this goal.”

The joint declaration calls on the international community for “swift introduction” of “robust” sanctions on Russia, including measures targeting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.

Updated

Chris Bryant, the Labour MP and member of the UK’s Commons foreign affairs select committee, has been withering in his assessment of the UK’s sanctions effort thus far:

Bryant wrote for the Guardian on a similar subject in an opinion article published on Tuesday evening.

In a briefing on Wednesday Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said the government was holding further sanctions against Russia in readiness if the situation escalated further.

Updated

EU ambassadors in Brussels have agreed on the current package of sanctions against Russia.

The package is expected to be adopted and implemented at 15:00 CET today.

Some EU capitals had expressed an aspiration for a “big bang sanctions package” to come soon after, echoing the debate in the UK, diplomats said.

Updated

This excellent, in-depth visual guide is well worth a look if you want to know how we got here - and what could happen next …


More here on the pope’s words from my colleague in Rome, Angela Giuffrida:

Pope Francis warned of “increasingly alarming scenarios” in Ukraine during his weekly audience on Wednesday, saying the threat of war caused “great pain in my heart” while appealing to all sides “to abstain from any action that could provoke more suffering to the populations, destabilising coexistence among nations and discrediting international law”.

The pontiff proclaimed Ash Wednesday, which falls on 2 March, a day of international prayer for peace and fasting:

Jesus taught us that we should respond to the diabolic senselessness of violence with the weapons of God, with prayer and fasting.

Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk, has said that he will not immediately order an attack on Ukrainian positions on the front line but will not rule out a “military solution” to expanding his region’s borders either.

Appearing alongside the head of Russia’s ruling United Russia party, Pushilin said the Russian-backed separatists were not yet at the stage of a “military solution to [expanding] the region’s borders”.

He said:

We’re not at that point yet. We’re at the point where the enemy’s forces are located at the front line and could go on the offensive at any moment.

There are no indications that Ukraine has prepared any kind of offensive. But it could likely be a pretext for Russia to formally attack Ukrainian positions.

“We haven’t done anything about this yet,” said Pushilin, referring to the border issue. “We haven’t taken it in hand.”

Russia has denied it is planning to send a large deployment of troops and equipment into the area, although photographs from Russia’s Rostov region suggest a considerable buildup on the borders with the territories.

The remarks came during a visit by a delegation of Russian lawmakers to the region.

Andrey Turchak, the head of the United Russia party, said that the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, would soon hold formal meetings with diplomats from the two regions, which have only been recognised by a handful of states led by Russia.

Denis Pushilin attends a news conference in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Denis Pushilin attends a news conference in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Updated

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has said Putin no longer accepts Ukraine’s independence under international law, AFP reports.

“President Putin in his speech [on Monday] declared in a sense the negation of Ukraine as a sovereign country,” Le Drian told reporters after talks with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, in Berlin.

Le Drian said Putin’s decision to recognise two breakaway regions in Ukraine smacked of “revisionism” and a bid to “reinvent history”.

In general, he is not keeping his promises, neither in public nor in private, whether to President Macron or to Chancellor Scholz. When or how should we believe what President Putin says? I don’t know if anyone knows.

When asked about the likelihood of a full Russian invasion, Le Drian said that with “140,000 [Russian] troops” massed on Ukraine’s borders “anything is possible, including the worst”.

Baerbock accused Putin of “lying” about his intentions in Ukraine in talks with western leaders in recent days.

“When you do the opposite of what you said a week ago then you didn’t tell the truth or, in plain German: you lied,” she told reporters.

It is the Russian president who took the decision to completely violate international law, to trample on international law, and to contribute to the fact that we are now no longer talking about shared peace in Europe but rather how we can continue to avoid a war.

Baerbock said the west was “prepared for all scenarios” including a full Russian invasion of Ukraine, adding that sanctions already agreed with European partners “can be increased at any time”.

Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Yves Le Drian at a press conference after a meeting in Berlin.
Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Yves Le Drian at a press conference after a meeting in Berlin. Photograph: Christian Marquardt/EPA

Updated

Here's a roundup of this morning's Ukraine developments:

Updated

EU to unveil toughest sanctions on Russians yet

Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, the commanders-in-chief of the Russian Air Force and Black Sea Fleet, leading state “propagandists” - as well as 351 Duma deputies - are expected to be targeted in EU sanctions announced later on Wednesday.

The measures, which have to be signed off by EU foreign ministers, would go further than those announced by the US - and well beyond Boris Johnson’s Russia sanctions.

If approved, the EU will impose asset freezes and travel bans on 23 people, three banks and a notorious internet ‘troll factory’ in St Petersburg, in response to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. The bloc is also expected to sanction 351 members of the Russian state Duma that voted for recognition of the two territories.

The Russian government will also see further restrictions on its ability to raise money on EU financial markets. EU officials are also drawing up measures to ban trade between the two Russian-controlled territories in eastern Ukraine, mirroring earlier sanctions on Crimea in 2014.

“Everyone seems on board for the adoption of sanctions,” an EU diplomat said. EU capitals have a few hours to send comments, with ministers expected to approve the sanctions at 3pm CET.

At the top of the sanctions list is Shoigu, because he is “ultimately responsible for any military action against Ukraine”, according to the draft list seen by the Guardian. He is joined by Anton Vaino, Putin’s chief of staff, who “plays an active role in decision making”, as well as Igor Osipov, commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet, and Sergei Surovikin, commander-in-chief of Russian Aerospace Forces.

Other top officials include deputy prime minister and chair of state-owned VTB bank, Dmitry Grigorenko, and Igor Shuvalov, chair of Russia’s state development bank, VEB, which plays an important role in funding its defence sector.

The EU is also targeting Russian “propagandists”, including foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, and the head of the RT channel, Margarita Simonyan, both of whom are known for their strident anti-western rhetoric. Vladimir Solovyov, the pro-Kremlin presenter of the Russia One channel, also makes the list.

Other notable figures include Yevgeniy Prigozhin. Known as Putin’s chef, Prigozhin finances the Internet Research Agency (IRA), which has also been added to the EU sanctions list. Based in St Petersburg, the IRA is better known as the “troll factory” , where bloggers work around the clock to flood the global internet with pro-Putin and anti-western views. According to US sanctions, Prigozhin is also believed to be the “manager and financier” of the Wagner mercenary group, which is already subject to EU sanctions for its role in sending forces into conflicts in west Africa.

Prigozhin’s mother and wife, who own companies with links to him, are also on the draft list.

The sanctioned banks are Bank Rossiya, believed by EU and western officials to be the personal bank for Putin and many of his officials, as well as Promsvyazbank and Vnesheconombank, both considered by EU officials to be instructed personally by the Russian president, with a key role in financing Russia’s defence sector.

EU leaders have signalled further sanctions could follow in the coming days. “Expect some more discussions on the broader big bang sanctions package later this week,” said the EU official.

Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, takes part in talks with Brazil at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Reception House. (Photo by Russian Foreign Ministry\TASS via Getty Images)
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, takes part in talks with Brazil at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Reception House. (Photo by Russian Foreign Ministry\TASS via Getty Images) Photograph: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Updated

Ben Wallace, the former Scots Guards officer who now serves as the UK defence secretary, has accused Vladimir Putin of going “full tonto” over Ukraine, PA reports.

Wallace said the Russian president has made the mistake of having no allies in his actions, comparing him to Tsar Nicholas I during the Crimean War.

Wallace said his old regiment had “kicked the backside” of the tsar in the Crimea and “we can always do it again”.

The unguarded comments came as the cabinet minister chatted with serving military personnel at the Horse Guards building in Westminster.

He said:

It’s going to be a busy army. Unfortunately we’ve got a busy adversary now in Putin, who has gone full tonto.

Wallace said the UK had 1,000 personnel on standby to respond to the crisis, adding:

The Scots Guards kicked the backside of Tsar Nicholas I in 1853 in Crimea - we can always do it again. Tsar Nicholas I made the same mistake Putin did … he had no friends, no alliances.

Ben Wallace at the conference of defence ministers, at Belvoir Castle, in Grantham, UK on Tuesday.
Ben Wallace at the conference of defence ministers, at Belvoir Castle, in Grantham, UK on Tuesday. Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP

Updated

Eight senior Russian security officials and the oil and gas sectors will be targeted in the first round of Australian sanctions, with the prime minister vowing to go after anyone “aiding and abetting” the invasion of Ukraine.

Scott Morrison met with the cabinet’s national security committee on Wednesday before declaring the Russian government was “behaving like thugs and bullies” and there “must be consequences for Russia’s actions”.

Morrison characterised the sanctions as only the first step of Australia’s response and indicated Australian security agencies were on alert for possible counter-actions by Russia such as espionage and cyber attacks.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council has asked parliament to impose a state of emergency throughout Ukraine, except for Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts – the areas claimed by Russia – where one has already been in place for many years.

The council met after Russia began moving troops across the border into the separatist-held territories it recognised on Monday, and the US announced that the invasion of Ukraine it had been warning about for weeks had begun.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the council, told journalists after the meeting that the state of emergency allowed the government to bring in controls including restrictions on movement, and curfews.

However curfews are not currently expected to be brought in, and would only be imposed in case of increased Russian aggression, he said.

He also confirmed that the country was calling up the first 36,000 military reservists. The country has nearly half a million veterans with frontline experience in the east, so potentially still has a large pool of fighters it could call up.

Danilov said each of Ukraine’s regions would be able to select which particular measures to apply, “depending on how necessary they might be”.

“What could it be? This could be added enforcement of public order,” Danilov said.

“This could involve limiting certain types of transport, increased vehicle checks, or asking people to show this or that document,” he added, calling it a “preventive” measure.

The ministry of foreign affairs also called on all Ukrainian citizens to leave Russia.

Updated

China has accused the US of creating “fear and panic” over the crisis in Ukraine, and called for talks to reduce rapidly building tensions, AP reports.

The foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China was opposed to new unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia, reiterating a longstanding Chinese position.

She said the US was fuelling tensions by providing defensive weapons to Ukraine, without mentioning Russia’s deployment of as many as 190,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Hua also did not mention efforts by the US, France and others to engage Russia diplomatically.

China-Russia ties have grown closer under the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who hosted the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at talks in Beijing earlier this month. The two sides issued a joint statement backing Moscow’s opposition to a Nato expansion in former Soviet republics and buttressing China’s claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Speaking at a daily briefing on Wednesday, Hua said:

On the Ukraine issue, unlike the US, which keeps sending weapons to Ukraine, creating fear and panic and even playing up the threat of war, China has been calling on all parties to respect and pay attention to each other’s legitimate security concerns, work together to solve problems through negotiations and consultations, and maintain regional peace and stability.

The outcome of the Ukraine crisis is seen as having ramifications for China over its threat to invade Taiwan, a close US ally, and its border dispute with India and its claims in the South China and East China seas, where it has raised concerns over conflict with Japan, the Philippines and others.

Updated

Ukraine’s parliament has voted to approve in the first reading a draft law which gives permission to Ukrainians to carry firearms and act in self-defence.

“The adoption of this law is fully in the interests of the state and society,” the authors of the draft law said in a note, adding that the law was needed due to “existing threats and dangers for the citizens of Ukraine”.

(Via Reuters)

Germany can meet its energy needs without Russian gas, its economy minister said on Wednesday, a day after the government decided to halt the approval of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline amid rising Ukraine tensions.

Asked on public radio if Europe’s largest economy could do without natural gas deliveries from Russia, currently its largest supplier, Robert Habeck responded, “Yes, it can”.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the approval of the NordStream 2 pipeline from Russia would be suspended in response to Putin’s decision to recognise two breakaway regions of Ukraine.

Cutting itself off completely from Russian gas would leave a big hole in the market that in the first instance would “drive prices higher”, said Habeck of the Green party.

However Germany’s power demands could be “compensated” with other energy sources and suppliers, including an accelerated renewables push set out by the government, he said.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was completed but never approved by regulators, was set to increase Germany’s dependency on Russia for gas to 70% of its total deliveries.

The project was consistently supported by the previous chancellor Angela Merkel, who left office at the end of last year, as well as her successor Scholz - until the current crisis.

(Via AFP)

File image of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction in Russia: Photo by EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock
File image of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction in Russia: Photo by EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: EyePress News/REX/Shutterstock

Russia’s state-funded broadcaster RT is not happy with Liz Truss’s suggestion that the UK’s broadcast regulator, Ofcom, would be looking at RT’s output, Reuters reports.

RT’s deputy editor in chief and head of communications, Anna Belkina, said:

It is unfortunate that Minister Truss, and, recently, a select few other UK politicians, seem to be trying to directly or indirectly interfere in institutions they tout as supposedly independent and wholly free from political pressure.

These comments once more undermine the independence of the UK regulator.”

Ukraine’s parliament has approved imposing sanctions on 351 Russians, including lawmakers who supported the recognition of the independence of separatist-controlled territories and the use of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.

The sanctions restrict almost all possible types of activities, in particular a ban on entry into Ukraine, prohibit access to assets, capital, property, licenses for business. The security council was due to impose the sanctions after the vote.

(Via Reuters)

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, wants the west to ratchet up its sanctions on Russia: “Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now.”

The country is also advising its citizens to leave Russia, with the foreign ministry recommending “that citizens of Ukraine refrain from any trips to the Russian Federation, and those who are in this country to leave its territory immediately”.

There are estimated to be 3 million Ukrainians living in Russia.

Pope Francis has called on political leaders to look to their consciences, Reuters reports.

On Wednesday the pope said the threat of war in Ukraine had caused “great pain in my heart”, and urged politicians to make a serious examination of conscience before God about their actions.

Speaking in a sombre tone at the end of his weekly general audience, Francis urged leaders to abstain from any moves that would cause further suffering for people and proclaimed Ash Wednesday - 2 March - an international day of fasting and prayer for peace.

Pope Francis delivers a speech during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, in Vatican City, 23 February 2022. EPA/MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI
Pope Francis delivers a speech during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall, in Vatican City, 23 February 2022. EPA/MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI Photograph: Maurizio Brambatti/EPA

Japan will impose sanctions on Russia and individuals linked to Ukrainian regions controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists.

Wednesday’s announcement follows similar measures by the US, the UK and the EU.

Japan strongly condemns Russia’s actions “that infringe on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, violating international law”, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

“From the viewpoint of responding to the issue in cooperation with the international community, Japan decided to impose sanctions.”

The Japanese sanctions include a ban on issuing visas to individuals linked to the “so-called two republics” as well as freezing their assets and barring trade with the regions.

There will also be a ban on the issuing and trade of Russian government bonds in Japan.

Kishida said further sanctions were possible if the situation worsened.

(Via AFP)

And more on the sanctions row - this time from a prominent Conservative figure.

The former UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt says the British government needs to take action that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is “not expecting”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Hunt said:

We do need to go further, and I suspect the government wanted to. They’ve been pretty robust in what they’ve said but it’s very important to go in lockstep with our allies in a situation like this.

But what we have to remember is that Putin has both predicted these sanctions and indeed further sanctions - and discounted them.

If we are going to avoid being two steps behind in the diplomatic chess game, we have to do some things that he’s not expecting.

The most important is to do sanctions - economic and financial sanctions - that are tough enough and last long enough to reduce the ability of the Russian state to finance the Russian military.

And that means we have got to be prepared to dig in for the long term and not do what I’m afraid has happened all too often, which is that you get a future government that decides they want to reset relations with Moscow, as, for example, President Obama did when he became president, and they cancel previous sanctions or penalties and Russia can feel that it’s got away with what it’s done.

(Via PA)

Updated

The row over the UK government’s sanctions package is still going strong today. This from the i newspaper’s Paul Waugh and the Labour MP Chris Bryant, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Russia …

Liz Truss says she believes Putin is “hell-bent” on invading Ukraine.

Challenged on whether the current UK sanctions are tough enough to stop the Russian state financing the military, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

One of the banks that we’ve sanctioned is the bank that finances the Russian military, so we are absolutely taking that step.

I believe that Putin is hell-bent on invading Ukraine. This is about inflicting pain on Putin and degrading the Russian economic system over time, targeting people that are close to Putin. But if you’re asking me is he paying attention, my view is that he wants to invade, this is a long-standing plan.

And what we have to do is make it as painful as possible, both by supplying support to the Ukrainian government in terms of defensive weapons, in terms of economic support, and by imposing economic costs.

(Via PA)

From the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent ...

Truss has also used the BBC Breakfast interview to defend the government against accusations that its sanctions are nowhere near stringent enough.

She said:

These are the toughest sanctions we’ve ever put on Russia. They’re targeting people who are very close to the Kremlin - absolutely key oligarchs. They’re targeting banks that fund the Russian military and key banks that keep the Russian regime going.

We’re also making sure that Russia won’t be able to raise sovereign debt on international markets. We’re making sure that the territorial sanctions will be in place in those regions as well. We’re targeting politicians in the Russian parliament who voted for that recognition [of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk] to take place.

The EU is going through its formal procedures for imposing its first tranche of sanctions on Russia following political agreement on Tuesday and scrutiny of legal text last night.

An agenda item has been added to this morning’s meeting of EU ambassadors with regard to approval of the legal texts. The 27 EU member states can provide “minimal” input to the presidency of the EU, which is currently held by France.

The ambassadors will approve the text and launch a so-called “written procedure”, which gives foreign ministers up until 3pm today to give their formal approval remotely without the need for a further meeting.

A diplomatic source said: “Expect some more discussions on the broader big bang sanctions package later this week.”

Russian forces massing near Ukraine’s borders can only remain in position for a few days before they have to be sent back to nearby bases or risk their capability being significantly degraded, western officials and experts believe.

That means that President Vladimir Putin will come under increasing pressure to use them in a full invasion of Ukraine – or send them back to staging areas, still in Russia’s south or west, but tens or even hundreds of kilometres back.

Such advance positions, often with poor protection from the cold, can be held only for a short period – and there is some evidence on social media of the poor conditions endured by soldiers near the border.

This is Sam Jones, taking on the blog for the next few hours.

Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, says the country will target Russia with a round of sanctions and will “ratchet up” the response should military action in Ukraine continue. He’s also accused Russia of behaving “like thugs and bullies”.

Sanctions and travel bans will target eight members of the Russian Federation’s security council, while existing sanctions in place over past aggression will be expanded. Russian banks have also been targeted.

Morrison said he expected further tranches of sanctions against more individuals but remained tight-lipped about who would be targeted.

He told reporters in Sydney:

We will take this step by step and I can assure you those steps will get stronger and stronger.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, met with the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday afternoon, following the announcement of the sanctions.

Morrison, who convened cabinet’s national security committee on Wednesday, said Russia needed to understand the world’s condemnation of its decision.

He said:

The invasion of Ukraine has effectively already begun. They’re acting like thugs and bullies. Australians always stand up to bullies and we will be standing up to Russia.

(Via Australian Associated Press)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks about the situation in Ukraine at a news conference in Sydney, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks about the situation in Ukraine at a news conference in Sydney, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) Photograph: Rick Rycroft/AP

Thanks for joining me, Samantha Lock, for all the latest developments surrounding the Ukraine crisis.

I’ll now be handing over to my colleague Sam Jones who will continue to bring you all the latest updates.

Updated

As many westerns nations rush to impose sanctions on Russia, China’s foreign ministry has said it opposes the measures and does not believe sanctions are the best way to solve problems, Reuters is reporting.

China hopes relevant parties can try to resolve their issues through dialogue and remain calm and exercise restraint, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

Updated

Some photos from last night’s pro-Ukraine rally in the city of Mariupol in south eastern Ukraine have emerged.

Freelance photojournalist, Olga Tokariuk, who is based in Kyiv shared some snaps taken by her colleague Andriy Tsapliyenko.

“People here won’t be welcoming Russian soldiers,” she said.

In the latest slew of sanctions to hit Moscow, Britain will stop Russia selling sovereign debt in London after Putin deployed military forces into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said on Wednesday.

Truss said that if Putin went further and ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine then sanctions would be escalated, PA Media reports.

Russia issues defiant response to sanctions, warns of ‘consequences'

Russia’s ambassador to the United States has hit back at the imposition of sanctions imposed by US president Joe Biden, suggesting the move would hurt global financial and energy markets as well as ordinary citizens.

According to a recent post on the Russian embassy Facebook page early Wednesday, ambassador Anatoly Antonov said:

Sanctions will not solve anything regarding Russia. It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Washington is counting on Russia to review its foreign policy course under threat of restrictions.

I don’t remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the Western world. We learned how to work in such conditions. And not only survive, but also develop our state.

There is no doubt that the sanctions imposed against us will hurt the global financial and energy markets.

The United States will not be left out, where ordinary citizens will feel the full consequences of rising prices.”

South Korea is considering the possibility of joining sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis after speaking with the United States.

However, the east Asian nation is not considering military assistance, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing the presidential Blue House.

One soldier killed, six wounded in shelling: Ukraine military

The Ukrainian military has said another soldier was killed and six wounded in shelling by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine in the past 24 hours.

The military said it had recorded 96 incidents of shelling by separatists over the past 24 hours, 81 of which were with the use of heavy weapons, compared with 84 a day earlier, according to Ukraine’s joint forces operation situation recently published report.

It said separatist forces used heavy artillery, mortars and Grad rocket systems.

Updated

Putin ready for 'diplomatic solutions' but Russia’s interests ‘non-negotiable’

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is ready to look for “diplomatic solutions” over Ukraine but stressed that the country’s interests were non-negotiable.

In a video address on Wednesday morning to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day, a public holiday in Russia, Agence France-Press cites Putin as saying:

Our country is always open for direct and honest dialogue, for the search for diplomatic solutions to the most complex problems.

The interests of Russia, the security of our citizens, are non-negotiable for us.”

In the video address, Putin congratulated the country’s men, praised the battle-readiness of the Russian army and said he was certain of the “professionalism” of the military and that they will stand up for the country’s national interests.

His speech follows Russia’s unanimous approval to deploy “peacekeepers” to two self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk now recognised by Moscow as independent.

Putin said Russia would continue to develop state-of-the-art weapons.

We will continue to develop advanced weapon systems, including hypersonic and those based on new physical principles, and expand the use of advanced digital technologies and elements of artificial intelligence.

Such complexes are truly the weapons of the future, which significantly increase the combat potential of our armed forces.”

Updated

Satellite images show new deployment of military vehicles in Belarus

We earlier reported a cache of satellite images showing a new deployment of more than 100 military vehicles and dozens of troop tents in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border.

The images - published by private US company on Tuesday - reportedly show a new field hospital has been added to a military garrison in western Russia close to the border with Ukraine, according to a statement from Maxar Technologies, which has been tracking the buildup of Russian forces for weeks.

The images could not be independently verified by Reuters however they have been widely shared by correspondents reporting from Ukraine.

A satellite image shows a new deployment, material support and troops, near Belgorod, Russia, on 21 February.
A satellite image shows a new deployment, material support and troops, near Belgorod, Russia, on 21 February. Photograph: Maxar Technologies/Reuters
A satellite image made available by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of a field hospital and troop deployment in western Belgorod, Russia.
A satellite image made available by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of a field hospital and troop deployment in western Belgorod, Russia. Photograph: Maxar Technologies Handout/EPA
This Maxar satellite image taken on 21 February released on 22 February shows armour and vehicles at a rail yard in Veselaya Lopan, southwest of Belgorod, Russia.
This Maxar satellite image taken on 21 February released on 22 February shows armour and vehicles at a rail yard in Veselaya Lopan, southwest of Belgorod, Russia. Photograph: Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images


Johnson to face calls for tougher action on Russia

British prime minister Boris Johnson has been urged to impose tougher sanctions on Russia after announcing on Tuesday that three billionaire allies of the Russian President and five Russian banks would face punitive measures.

The prime minister is likely to come under fire in the Commons today and will criticism from all sides for not going far enough, PA Media reports.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said “we must be prepared to go further”, while the sanctions were branded as “gruel” by the Liberal Democrats’ Layla Moran.

Vladimir Putin pictured with Gennady Timchenko, second right, who has been targeted by UK sanctions.
Vladimir Putin pictured with Gennady Timchenko, second right, who has been targeted by UK sanctions. Photograph: Alexey Nikolsky/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty Images

Former Tory foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that “Putin will have predicted and discounted western sanctions long ago, so does he (Johnson) agree that if we are not to be behind in the diplomatic chess game, we need to do some things that he is not expecting?”.

Tobias Ellwood, Conservative chairman of the defence committee, said: “Sanctions alone will not be enough, indeed untargeted sanctions may play into Putin’s plan to pivot Russia ever closer to China.”

Former Tory minister Mark Harper asked for assurances that Boris Johnson will implement “further and stronger measures even if President Putin does no more”.

Johnson and Downing Street insisted this was only the “first barrage” of measures, where “very high net wealth individuals” Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg - who he described as “cronies” of the Russian president - were targeted. The sanctions, which include UK asset freezes, a travel ban and prohibition on British individuals and businesses dealing with them, were also tabled against Russian banks Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank.

Updated

Russia’s ministry of defence has just issued a bizarre call out, urging Russians to celebrate their “fatherland” by installing photos of military might on their desktops.

Blinken says Ukraine invasion was Putin's plan 'all along'

US secretary of state Antony Blinken earlier said an invasion of Ukraine had been Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “plan all along”, calling the situation a “manufactured crisis”.

In a joint press conference with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington held on Tuesday evening local time, Blinken said:

His plan all along has been to invade Ukraine; to control Ukraine and its people; to destroy Ukraine’s democracy, which offers a stark contrast to the autocracy that he leads; to reclaim Ukraine as a part of Russia.

That’s why this is the greatest threat to security in Europe since world war two”.

During the press conference, Blinken also added that he will no longer be meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Paris on Friday as planned : “Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy it does not make sense to go forward that meeting at this time.”

The meeting followed Joe Biden’s announcement on Tuesday about the first round of sanctions against Russian banks, oligarchs and others, with plans to escalate sanctions if Russia advances its invasion.

Video of the press conference is also available here.

Updated

Truss warns 'nothing is off the table' in Russia sanctions

The UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss has revealed potential further UK sanctions on Russia, warning those close to Putin will see his incursion into Ukraine as a “self-inflicted wound” and adding “nothing is off the table”.

British prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that three billionaire allies of the Russian president and five Russian banks would face punitive measures in response to their country’s aggression.

Liz Truss leaves 10 Downing Street after an emergency Cobra meeting on Tuesday.
Liz Truss leaves 10 Downing Street after an emergency Cobra meeting on Tuesday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Truss said the UK was also considering sanctions for members of the Russian Duma and Federation Council, and extending Crimea’s territorial sanctions to the separatist controlled territories in the Donbas. Writing in The Times, she said:

Putin is ... undermining Europe’s security and stability. We will use every lever at our disposal to stop him in his tracks.

We have put in place our toughest sanctions regime against Russia. Nothing is off the table. This first wave will target the individuals and companies closest to the Kremlin.

Truss added that “no UK individual or business will be able to deal with these territories until they are returned to Ukraine.”

Truss also said the UK has a “long list” of people who have been complicit in the actions of the Russian leadership, who the government is willing to “(turn) up the heat” on unless Russia pulls back its forces.

Beyond financial sanctions, Truss added the UK was willing to introduce “measures to limit Russia’s ability to trade and prohibit a range of high-tech exports, degrading the development of its military industrial base for years”.

“In time, even those close to President Putin will come to see his decisions this week as a self-inflicted wound.”

Welcome to our live blog on the Ukraine crisis. I’m Samantha Lock.

There have been a number of important developments over the last few hours so if you’re just joining us or need a quick recap, here are some of the main points:

  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said an invasion of Ukraine had been Vladimir Putin’s “plan all along”, calling the situation a “manufactured crisis”. He also cancelled a meeting planned for Friday with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
  • US president Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia and the Russian president’s decision to send troops into eastern Ukraine was the “beginning of the invasion of Ukraine”.
  • The sanctions will target Russian banks and sovereign debt, as well as prominent members of what Biden called the Russian “elite”.
  • Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the sanctions but said they weren’t enough to discourage Putin. Speaking in Washington with Blinken, he said the US must help his country because the future of the world order “is being decided right now in Ukraine”.
  • Russia’s ambassador to the US hit back at the sanctions, suggesting the move would hurt global financial and energy markets as well as ordinary citizens.
  • The UK and European Union also announced similar sanctions to the US but were criticised as not being strong enough, and could also come at a cost for the west. Australia and Japan followed suit.
  • Ukraine’s president has called up the country’s reservists and warned that Ukraine could face a battle for its very existence.
  • Satellite images show a new deployment of more than 100 military vehicles and dozens of troop tents in southern Belarus and in Russia near the Ukraine border, a private US company said.
  • Canada delivered a second aircraft to Ukraine filled with “lethal military aid”, calling Russia’s invasion of a sovereign state “absolutely unacceptable”.
  • Oil prices only rose slightly on Wednesday’s as the market judged that sanctions against Russia will not disrupt supplies from the world’s third largest producer.

Updated

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