Maxar Technologies, a US space technology company, has published several satellite images showing what it says are new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia, and more than 100 vehicles in southern Belarus - all close to Ukraine's borders.

Russia and Belarus have been staging massive exercises on Belarusian soil in recent days. Neither has commented on the images.

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

As we told you earlier, Ukraine has told its citizens in Russia to leave.

One Ukrainian MP, Lesia Vasylenko, has been tweeting from inside the Ukrainian Parliament,, external which is considering whether to declare a state of emergency in the country's border regions.

"Yes, Ukraine is ordering her nationals out of Russia," she tweets. "Yes, we are preparing for a state of emergency. At least in some regions of Ukraine.

"Martial law could be an option, if…whatever it takes to keep Ukraine standing."

EU moves quicker than expected as sanctions take shapepublished at 09:55 Greenwich Mean Time 23 February 2022

09:55 GMT 23 February 2022

Jessica Parker
BBC Brussels Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The EU’s often accused of moving slowly but it looks as though the bloc’s on the cusp of confirming its initial sanctions package.

It follows a frantic 24 hours of talks between ambassadors, officials and foreign ministers.

We’ve had a broad outline of the plans but what are the details?

While final sign off hasn’t happened, I’ve heard proposals have included stopping EU institutions from lending to or buying securities from the Russian state and a full asset freeze of certain banks which are aiding Russian operations.

Also an EU travel ban for 351 members of Russia’s state Duma who supported the recognition of the two breakaway regions as independent.

Alas, no more shopping, parties and diamonds

The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles tweeted last night that, for some, there’d now be no more shopping in Milan, partying in Saint-Tropez or diamonds in Antwerp! The tweet, ridiculed in some quarters for not matching the seriousness of the situation, has since been deleted.

Nevertheless an EU plan has been agreed which, coupled with Germany’s move on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, went beyond what some expected.

However if President Putin goes further there’s quiet acknowledgement here that the tougher the sanctions get, the harder they will be to agree.

Later on today, international attention over Ukraine will be focused on the UN General Assembly, which is meeting at 15:00 GMT (10:00 local time) in New York.

The Assembly will debate "the situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine", following Russia's recognition of two breakaway states.

It's a plenary session, meaning all members are able to attend. Expect Russia to defend its decision to recognise the pro-Russian provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, and use the stage to push for more countries to recognise them too.

UN-watchers say it'll be worth keeping an eye on China too. Yesterday its UN ambassador called for "all parties" to avoid "fueling tensions" in Ukraine, but stopped short of condemning the Kremlin's recognition of the provinces.

As they mull more sanctions, Western diplomats will be looking out for how strongly Beijing backs its longtime ally.

On Wednesday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing never thinks that sanctions are the best way to solve problems.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister has called on the West to impose tougher sanctions against Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

Yesterday the US, UK and others announced measures against Russian individuals and banks - but Dmytro Kuleba wants them to go further.

"First decisive steps were taken yesterday, and we are grateful for them," Kuleba tweets.

"Now the pressure needs to step up to stop Putin. Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now."

As Vladimir Putin orders troops into eastern Ukraine, here's a look at how things got to this point.

Ukraine has told its citizens not to visit Russia and warned any Ukrainians already there to leave immediately.

"The foreign ministry recommends that citizens of Ukraine refrain from any trips to the Russian Federation, and those who are in this country to leave its territory immediately," a statement says, external(in Ukrainian).

It says the "intensification of Russian aggression against Ukraine" means it won't be able to offer consular assistance to Ukrainians in Russia.

The move could affect several million Ukrainian nationals who are estimated to live in Russia.

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine has begun conscripting members of its reserve defence forces aged 18-60 into the military, following a decree by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The military said that the maximum service period would be a year and recruits with skills, such as mechanics, will be posted to specialist units.

Officials added that people who ignore the call up could face "criminal responsibility".

Experts estimate that around 900,000 people serve in Ukraine's reserve defence forces.

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent, Kyiv

Image source, Getty Images

Thirty-six hours after Vladimir Putin ordered Russian “peacekeepers” into the two pro-Russian separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, there’s still no clear evidence that they’ve arrived.

Russian forces have been in and out of both areas throughout eight years of war, but there have been no clear reports of anything much changing on the ground since Monday.

The sharp rise in shelling along the “line of contact” that divides separatist-controlled territory from Ukrainian government-controlled territory continues, but otherwise nothing has changed.

So has a new, bigger war already begun?

The omens are not good. Diplomatic avenues seem to be closing down. The rhetoric from Moscow is nakedly hostile. Satellite images show Russian forces creeping closer to this country’s borders. Ukraine’s government is drafting in reservists.

But has Putin yet taken a decision to unleash what could be the worst war in Europe since 1945?

No-one knows.

Image source, Getty Images

Liz Truss tells BBC Breakfast that the Champion's League final should not go ahead in St Petersburg.

The final of Europe's biggest club football tournament is due to be played in the Russian city's Gazprom Arena on 28 May, but organisers Uefa are considering moving the match eleswhere.

The foreign secretary says: "I think it is wrong at this stage with what Russia is doing internationally to have the final there."

Asked if English clubs should boycott it, should they reach the final, she says: “That's a matter for the team but if I was a player, which is a very unlikely eventuality, I certainly wouldn't want to be part of that.”

Read more - Uefa likely to move Champions League final from St Petersburg

Critics, including several prominent MPs from her own Conservative Party, have said a set of sanctions on Russia announced by the UK yesterday do not go far enough.

But Truss told BBC Breakfast that the sanctions are the "toughest we've ever put on Russia".

The measures include sanctions on several individuals and banks, along with sanctions on Russian parliamentarians - which would require new legislation - and preventing British firms from doing business in the two rebel-held areas in Donetsk and Luhansk, recognised by Russia as independent.

The UK will restrict the Russian state and key companies from raising funding in UK financial markets, as well as banning a range of high-tech exports to Russia.

Truss also said the UK had to "keep some sanctions in the locker" to use if and when Russia escalates its use of force against Ukraine.

"There will be more action on financial markets, there will be more action on individuals - we have a list of individuals ready to go," she says.

"Vladimir Putin and his cronies will be fearing they will be hit next," she adds.

Truss also said about £2m in donations to her Conservative party by individuals linked to Russia had been "fully declared".

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is speaking to BBC Breakfast now. She says she is "very very concerned about an imminent invasion of Ukraine".

Truss says an assault on the capital Kyiv is a "very real possibility".

"Russia has encircled Ukraine so we could see an attack from a variety of directions," she says.

If there is an invasion, she says the UK will escalate its sanctions on Moscow.

"Nothing would be off the table in the event of a full invasion," she says.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Moscow Correspondent

Publicly Moscow are brushing aside these latest sanctions.

I spoke to Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, yesterday and she was in a combative mood.

Basically she said to me "Ukraine crisis or no Ukraine crisis the West would have imposed more sanctions on Russian anyway to restrain our country".

And when I asked her about the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which many in Russia hadn't been expecting to happen so soon, she dismissed that too.

So publicly Moscow remains defiant and no hint of compromise from Russia yet.

Read more about the significance of Nord Stream 2 here

Russia’s move against Ukraine has raised comparisons with China and Taiwan in some quarters.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the mainland again, but Taiwan sees itself as an independent country.

Although analysts stress that the facts of a China-Taiwan scenario are very different, they can’t deny that everyone is closely watching how Western liberal democracies are responding to Russia – this is a test.

That’s prompted much discussion on Chinese and Taiwanese social media.

Some Chinese nationalists, emboldened by Russia’s move, are writing things like: “It’s time to take Taiwan back”. Meanwhile others are saying the measured US response so far “is showing to Taiwan how they’re going to treat their allies when the war really comes.”

• What does China want from the Ukraine crisis with Russia?

One article drawing parallels and doing the rounds is from the high-profile former editor of China’s Global Times newspaper. Hu Xijin’s piece urges people to support Beijing’s diplomacy, which has seen it call for restraint on both sides.

But he does cast the problem as “a showdown between the US and Russia over Nato’s eastward expansion” and Ukraine as “a victim of the aggressive policies of the US” - as opposed to the conflict being one propelled by Russia’s aggression.

In that vein he has also warned that the US will try and present Taiwan as Ukraine (a fully independent state) and not Donetsk (the breakaway region.)

China’s foreign ministry was asked on Tuesday if it saw any parallels. The spokesperson replied: “I would like to stress that there is but one China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”

Image source, BB

David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary of the UK's opposition Labour party, says the government needs to implement stronger sanctions on Russia.

He tells BBC Breakfast a "threshold has been breached" already and the mood among many MPs is that the measures sanctioning three oligarchs and five banks are not "strong enough".

Lammy adds many politicians remain concerned the UK has not sent a "message to Vladimir Putin that might, at this 11th hour, make him step back".

However Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has insisted that the UK will use "every lever at our disposal" to stop Putin's threats towards Ukraine.

Writing in the Times, external, Liz Truss said G7 allies have agreed on further sanctions and "nothing is off the table".

Read more here

Image source, Kremlin

Vladimir Putin says Moscow is still ready to look for "diplomatic solutions" with the West over Ukraine - but that the interests of Russia and the security of its citizens were non-negotiable.

In a video address to mark Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, he insisted that he was always open for "honest dialogue".

He also praised the battle-readiness of the Russian armed forces, saying he was certain they would stand up for the country's national interests.

Russia troops remain close to Ukraine's borders. Satellite imagery over the past 24 hours has shown several new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia, and more than 100 vehicles at an airfield in Belarus near Ukraine's border, according to US space technology company Maxar.

Image source, Reuters

Greetings to our readers just waking up in Europe, or checking in over Asia lunchtime.

Here are the main developments in this fast-changing story:

• The White House says President Biden won't be holding a summit with Vladimir Putin, as was suggested at the weekend
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also called off a Thursday meeting with his Russian counterpart, saying it no longer makes sense since the US believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine has begun
• Australia's PM Scott Morrison warned on Wednesday that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was "likely to occur within the next 24 hours"
• More countries - including Canada and Japan - have now imposed financial and economic sanctions against Russia, following the lead taken by the EU and US

• Western sanctions will also hit ordinary Americans, the Russian ambassador to the US warns

• Russia's parliament has authorised Putin to use the country's armed forces abroad - but it's not clear if any troops have already been sent to the rebel areas

Stick with us - we'll be bringing you all the latest reports and analysis from our correspondents on the ground, eyewitness accounts, and all the latest footage and photographs.

Maxar Technologies, a US space technology company, has published several satellite images showing what it says are new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia, and more than 100 vehicles in southern Belarus - all close to Ukraine's borders.

Russia and Belarus have been staging massive exercises on Belarusian soil in recent days. Neither has commented on the images.

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

Image source, SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES via EPA

Vikas Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

India has been cautious in its response so far. It hasn’t outrightly criticised Russia, but insisted that diplomacy should be used to “de-escalate” the situation.

The US and European nations would want India to take a clearer stand, but Delhi can’t afford to do that for several reasons.

For one, Moscow continues to be India’s biggest supplier of defence equipment. Then there is also their history of time-tested ties.

India will come under intense pressure to take a stand as the West imposes more sanctions in the coming days, but it has always relied on its famed non-alignment strategy whenever being driven to chose a side.

The fluid geopolitical situation may make it harder for Delhi to stay neutral this time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to walk a tight diplomatic rope if the West ramps up pressure.

Image source, Getty Images

Both Australia and New Zealand’s foreign ministries called in Russia’s ambassadors to the countries on Wednesday to express their opposition to Vladimir Putin’s actions.

Australian PM Scott Morrison said his government wasn't taking the step of expelling Russia’s ambassador yet - but he was discussing the option with other nations’ leaders.

Expelling an ambassador is one of the most severe foreign diplomacy measures.