British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned the world to “brace” for a violent Russian offensive, with 200,000 troops poised on Ukraine's border “at peak readiness to attack”.
President Vladimir Putin’s assault on eastern Ukraine “must ultimately fail and be seen to fail” Mr Johnson told a full House of Commons, calling the Russian leader’s actions “absurd and mystical”.
He also announced new sanctions against three key people thought to be close to Mr Putin as well as five Russian banks.
Following the appearance of Russian troops in Donetsk and Luhansk, including tanks and armoured vehicles, it was clear that months of “patient diplomacy may be in vain”.
“We must now brace ourselves for the next possible stages of Putin’s plan: the violent subversion of areas of eastern Ukraine by Russian operatives and their hirelings, followed by a general offensive by the nearly 200,000 Russian troops gathered on the frontiers,” Mr Johnson said.
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Firefighters arrive at a military building in Kiev that was damaged in an explosion. EPA -
A man looks at the debris of an unidentified object in the aftermath of an explosion in Kiev. EPA -
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv. AFP -
People take shelter in a Kiev subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
A Kiev underground train station provides some shelter. Reuters -
Clear airspace over Ukraine, shortly after the attack began, as shown on the Flightradar24 website. AP -
Kiev residents leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes by the Russian armed forces and Belarus. Getty -
Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the attack in a televised address, saying it was to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation in Kiev. He has declared martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine's military infrastructure. AP -
Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a house in Muratovo, in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. AFP -
The house is said to have been hit during shelling by Russian-backed separatists. AFP -
The coffin of Capt Anton Sidorov is carried by members of the honour guard during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Defence in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty -
A picture memorial for those killed in the confrontation between Ukraine's military and pro-Russia separatist forces, in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, attend a Security Council meeting in New York to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya speaks during an emergency meeting of the Security Council. AP -
US Army soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division head towards an air base near Arlamow, Poland. Reuters -
An employee works at the gun counter of a tactical equipment shop in Kiev, Ukraine. Getty -
A Ukrainian soldier speaks on a walkie-talkie at his position at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A man removes his belongings from his house after it was struck by artillery shells in Novoluhanske, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A damaged house in Vibrovka village. EPA -
A man shows a poster in support of Ukraine as he protests against the escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine, in Berlin. AP -
Soldiers carry the coffin of Capt Anton Sydorov, 35, after he was killed in eastern Ukraine. AP -
Workers look into a destroyed house after shelling near the city of Novoluhanske in Donetsk. Reuters -
Destroyed buildings in Krasnogorivka, Ukraine. AFP -
Smoke rises from a power plant after shelling outside the town of Schastia, a day after Moscow recognised two Ukrainian separatist republics and ordered the Russian Army to send in troops as ‘peacekeepers’. AFP -
A Ukrainian Army soldier trudges through the wintry streets of Schastia on patrol. AFP -
Three women run for cover during shelling in Schastia, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Russian tanks and armoured vehicles on the road in Rostov. EPA -
A woman shares food with dogs in Stanytsia Luhanska, a crossing point between Ukrainian government-controlled areas and pro-Russian separatists' territory. AP -
People wave Russian flags in Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, in eastern Ukraine. AP -
A tank drives along a street in the city of Donetsk. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the nation on TV and says 'we are not afraid' after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine. AFP -
A military truck in Donetsk after Mr Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to the city. Reuters -
Russian state television showed Mr Putin signing a decree recognising the independence of the two Ukrainian breakaway regions. Reuters -
US President Joe Biden signs an executive order at the White House to prohibit trade and investment between US individuals and the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Mr Putin signs documents, including the decree recognising two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, addresses an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation between Ukraine and Russia in New York. EPA
“If the worst happens, then a European nation of 44 million men, women and children would become the target of a full-scale war of aggression, waged without a shred of justification, for the absurd and even mystical reasons that Putin described last night.”
High-level visits to Moscow by French and German leaders along with numerous telephone calls from Mr Johnson and US President Joe Biden had “given Putin every opportunity to pursue his aims by negotiation and diplomacy”.
He stated that despite the evidence that “none of our messages has been heeded”, the West would continue to seek a diplomatic solution “until the last possible second”, even though Mr Putin appeared “implacably determined to go further in subjugating and tormenting Ukraine”.
Mr Johnson suggested Russia was now “establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive” on Ukraine.
Addressing grim-faced MPs on both sides of the House, Mr Johnson said: “Members will struggle to understand how or to contemplate, how in the year 2022, a national leader might calmly and deliberately plot the destruction of a peaceful neighbour, yet the evidence of his own words suggests that is exactly what President Putin is doing.”
He then named the banks and people whose assets would be frozen, banned from travel to Britain and prohibited from having dealings with anyone in the UK.
Among those sanctioned are Igor Rotenberg, his uncle Boris Rotenberg who did judo training with Mr Putin, as well as banker Gennady Timchenko.
Five Russian banks were also named in the sanctions: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank.
The prime minister said that more sanctions that could severely hinder Russian companies’ ability to raise cash in London and supply the Kremlin’s coffers could also soon be deployed, along with those from the US and the EU “if the situation escalates still further".
But Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, called on the British government to enact harsher punishments immediately.
He called for Russia to be excluded from the Swift banking system, for a ban on Russian sovereign debt and for the Russia Today English-language television channel to be “prevented from broadcasting as propaganda around the world”.
“A sovereign nation has been invaded in a war of aggression based on lies and fabrication,” he said. “If we do not respond with a full set of sanctions now, Putin will once again take away the message that the benefits for Russia outweigh the costs.”
The British sanctions come after Germany stated it would not be giving certification to the newly built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
With fears that Mr Putin’s military ambitions could push Moscow into a wider war with Nato, Mr Johnson affirmed that he had told the Baltic states that Britain was willing to send more forces to aid in their defence if requested.
“We cannot tell what will happen in the days ahead but we should steel ourselves for a protracted crisis,” he said.
He said that Mr Putin had to understand that his military actions would “be a disaster for Russia” that would impoverish the country making it an “international pariah”.
He also cast doubt on the Champions League final being held in St Petersburg on 10 June.
“There is no chance of holding a football tournament in Russia that invades sovereign countries,” Mr Johnson said.
There were nods and murmurs of approval as Mr Johnson highlighted that Britain had trained 22,000 Ukrainian soldiers, supplied 2,000 anti-tank missiles and had sent £100 million in aid and a guarantee for $500 million of Development Bank financing.
The prime minister urged Britons to consider the Ukrainian people “who threaten no one and ask for nothing except to live in peace and freedom”.
He concluded by promising that Britain “will not waver in our resolve”.
