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Pictured: Russian tanks seen on the streets of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin's tanks rolled into Ukraine last night creating the most "dangerous situation since the Cuban Missile Crisis".

Around 10,000 troops moved into two Russian speaking breakaway areas of Ukraine that Putin recognised as independent states, taking the world back to when it held its breath in the shadow of nuclear war.

Labour MP writes to Russian ambassador

The Labour MP for the Rhondda, Chris Bryant, is writing to the Russian ambassador to invite him to meet with him.

In a tweet, he wrote that: "last time we met he guaranteed that Russia would not invade Ukraine including the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk."

'Clear violation'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Russia's recognition of self-declared regions is in "clear violation of the political, territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty”.


Erdogan says Russian decision to recognise breakaway republics are unacceptable.

“It is a clear violation of political, territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty”

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 22, 2022

Czech Republic 'preparing to reduce dependence on Russia'

On Twitter, the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, says they are preparing to reduce energy dependence on Russia and support strengthening of NATO alliance defences.

He also said that the first reaction in the form of EU sanctions should come today and their impact on Russia should be very harsh, and at the same time, Fila is "preparing to reduce energy dependence on Russia."

On Twitter he continued to say that "We support the strengthening of NATO's Alliance defenses. We currently have about 580 troops in the Rapid Reaction Force."

Nord Stream 2 halted

Nord Stream 2, the 750-mile pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, has been halted.

It is suggested that the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has decided to pull the plug on the pipeline because of the Ukraine crisis.

Russia's Foreign Minister says Ukraine has no right to sovereignty

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that according to the U.N. charter, a country’s right to sovereignty applies only to states which represent “their entire people”, but that the government has not respected this.

“I think no one can argue that the Ukrainian regime, starting from the 2014 coup d'état, represents the entire people living on the territory of the Ukrainian state,” Lavrov said.

Italy condemns Russia’s decision
Italy has condemned Russia’s decision to recognise Russian-controlled territory in Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics as independent states.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said in a statement: “The decision of the Russian authorities to recognise the so-called separatist republics of Luhansk and Donetsk is to be condemned as a violation of the Minsk agreements."

Di Maio said the decision “represents a serious obstacle in the path towards a diplomatic solution of the Ukrainian crisis”.

He added: “Italy is in constant contact with European and Atlantic partners to coordinate the response to the announcement by the President of the Russian Federation.”

UEFA could strip Russia of Champions League final

UEFA is ready to drop St Petersburg as the venue for this year’s Champions League final as the military crisis in Ukraine deepens.

“UEFA is constantly and closely monitoring the situation,” the governing body said in a statement. “At present, there are no plans to change the venue.”

'Clear violation'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Russia's recognition of self-declared regions is in "clear violation of the political, territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty”.

Ireland says 'Russian needs to feel pain'

The Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne said that “there's going to be a sanctions package agreed today,” ahead of the General Affairs Council meeting.

“I think that we've got to ensure whatever happens that Russia certainly feels the pain. And that's going to happen,” he said, pointing to “a grotesque breach of international law.”

Czech PM on the situation

Czech Prime Minister Fiala has in a tweet said that the West: "has not acted vigorously and united enough against Russia's expansionism and imperial policy in past" and is now feeling consequences of this."

On Russian President Vladimir Putin, Fiala said Putin: "is not ashamed to use military force. We can't close our eyes before that".

SAJID Javid has said the “invasion of Ukraine has begun” and Britain will now impose further sanctions on Russia.

This comes following the Russian president Vladimir Putin's decision to order troops over the Russian border in a dramatic escalation of tensions.

The Health Secretary told Sky News the West was “waking up to a very dark day in Europe", adding “It’s clear from what we have already seen and found out today that the Russians, president Putin, has decided to attack the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last night, as he chaired a meeting of the government's emergency COBRA committee at 6.30am this morning.

The PM is due to make a statement to parliament later on today.

'Sanctions should be targeted at Russia'

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas says that sanctions should be targeted at Russia, not self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

The Minister of National Defense said that the sanctions should not be aimed at Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but at Russia .

"If we continue to have exactly the same economic, financial and other ties with Russia, which has boiled all this porridge, pursued an aggressive foreign policy, is plundering the territories of neighbouring countries, the results will be the same as after the occupation and annexation of Crimea.

"Now there is a second stage - the occupation of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and in the end there will still be annexation.

" I believe that sanctions should be applied to Russia and not to local regions," said Anušauskas.

The Minister also told the LRT radio station that Russian forces were ready for the invasion.

Anusauskas said: "The Kremlin is deciding whether this will be a local or a non-local scenario. So far, there is nothing left to counter this invasion without the courage and stubbornness of the Ukrainians themselves”.

'It's incredibly serious what's happening in Ukraine'

Opening a meeting of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force - made up of defence ministers from the Baltic states and Nordic countries - the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace noted that President Putin's recognition of two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine is "a very worrying sign".

"And we've seen in open source reporting... Russian military equipment is moving into that region now," he says.

He continued to say: "It's incredibly serious what's happening in Ukraine.

" This is a sovereign state that has now had some of its land effectively annexed from it. This is a sovereign state that is a democratic state in Europe, all of us in Europe should worry.

"And we should not hesitate to take whatever action we need to to deter President Putin from undermining both Nato but also Europe, and more importantly, our values."

Turkey
Same Turkey that invaded Cyprus, Iraq and Syria

Odewaleadesoye:

President of the European Commission: Russia's aggression is 'illegal'

In a statement today, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has said that Russia's aggression against Ukraine is 'illegal and unacceptable'.

EU brands the Russian action as an 'act of war'

The first indication Russian forces were moving cam in footage of Terminator-style Russian forces taken from Makiivka, in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and the neighbouring Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

The rest of Ukraine is now braced for a massive attack from the north, south and east “at any moment” after Putin declared the besieged nation was “part of Russia.”

It emerged today that Moscow is urgently seeking medics to go to work in makeshift hospitals in Rostov, close to the republics.

A doctor said: “Today we have been offered to go work at a temporary hospital in Rostov.

“This is how they said it: ‘The salary will be high, your patients will be the wounded’.”

The EU branded the Russian action as an "act of war" as the bloc was preparing to hit the Kremlin with sanctions.

What we know so far:

°President Vladimir Putin launched an effective invasion of eastern Ukraine

°He ordered tanks across the border into the newly-recognised Donetsk and Luhansk regions

°He's claimed his tanks are carrying out "peacekeeping functions"

°But the actions could trigger bloodiest conflict since WW2

°The US, UK and EU have vowed to hit Russia with sanctions today

°Boris Johnson is holding a dawn Cobra meeting to discuss the UK's response

Pictured: PM leaves Downing Street

Boris Johnson was pictured earlier heading to the Commons to give his update.

He is currently speaking in the Commons.

Boris Johnson in the Commons

The Prime Minister has said that Putin is establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive.

Boris Johnson warns we must "brace ourselves" for the next move by Russia after it "flagrantly violated" peace agreements last night.

He says Russian President Vladimir Putin viewing the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent was "denying Ukraine's legitimacy as a state".

Dramatic escalations

Boris Johnson’s warnings of new sanctions against Russia came after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, allegedly to carry out “peacekeeping” duties.

The dramatic escalation came after Vladimir Putin recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbas as independent states.

After chairing an early morning emergency meeting of the COBRA committee, Mr Johnson said he would later reveal sanctions against entities in Russia and the Donbas.

This is I should stress just the first barrage of UK economic sanctions against Russia because we expect I’m afraid that there is more Russian irrational behaviour to come,” he told broadcasters.

“I’m afraid all the evidence is that President Putin is indeed bent on a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine, the overrunning, the subjugation of an independent, sovereign European country and I think, let’s be absolutely clear, that will be absolutely catastrophic.”

Odewaleadesoye:
the protection of the breakaway states is what I like about it

AirBaltic suspends overnight flights to & from Ukraine

Latvian airline airBaltic has announced that due to the current situation, it has decided to suspend night flights to and from Ukraine until the end of February 2022.

However, the airline will continue to operate flights from Kiev to both Riga and Vilnius.

A revival of the Soviet Union?

Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov said today that Russia’s decision to recognise two self-proclaimed regions in eastern Ukraine means the Kremlin has taken another step towards the revival of the Soviet Union.

He said: The Kremlin has taken another step towards the revival of the Soviet Union. With the new Warsaw Pact and the new Berlin Wall."

Ukraine's defence minister warns of 'hardship'

Ukraine defence minister has warned his country of 'hardship' and 'losses' following an address to Ukraine armed forces after Russia recognised separatist regions.