Image source, Getty Images

Earlier this evening we heard from US President Joe Biden. Here's a summary of what he said:

• The Russian invasion is happening exactly how US officials predicted
• Russia staged false-flag operations that resulted in a "flagrant" violation of international law
• President Putin moved 175,000 troops and military equipment to Ukraine's borders and brought blood supplies and built field hospitals
• Putin wanted to re-establish the former Soviet Union and his actions leave him as a pariah on the international stage
• The US would defend "every inch" of Nato territory, but no American troops would be deployed to Ukraine

Biden also announced sanctions to "maximise a long-term impact on Russia". In summary:

• Biden said he agreed with the G7 leaders from the world's largest economies that they will collectively limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen
• Russia's second largest lender VTB is among four Russian banks that will be sanctioned
• The US and allies will cut off more than half of Russia's high-tech imports which will stop them from being able to modernise their military, build ships and aircraft and advance in aerospace
• Cutting Russia off from the global Swift banking system is not being proposed "right now"

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent, in Kyiv

Image source, Getty Images

It began before dawn. An assault on Ukraine. An assault on Europe.

After weeks of promising he meant this country no harm, Vladimir Putin finally gave the order to attack.

Within minutes targets had been hit all over. From airports in the west and south, to apartment blocks in the east. Rockets fired from inside Russia rained down on the outskirts of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv.

Soon armoured columns crossed into the country from Crimea in the south and Belarus in the north. Moving swiftly, perhaps with the intention of cutting the country in two.

At an airport no more than 20 miles (32 km) from the centre of Kyiv, paratroopers arrived while it was still dark, quickly establishing a base that could be used to launch attacks on the capital.

Here in Kyiv, which has been so calm through recent weeks of this mounting crisis, there was shock, fear, and panic.

People sheltered underground, formed long queues at supermarkets and banks, and in many cases, got in their cars and tried to drive out, causing gridlock. At Kyiv’s bus station, young people looked for any way to leave.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called for "maximum restraint" to protect nuclear sites in Ukraine, following the news of fighting around Chernobyl - the site of the world's worst nuclear accident.

The global body, which promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy, says it is following the situation in Ukraine with "grave concern".

The IAEA says it has been informed by its Ukrainian counterpart that while Russian forces have taken control of the former nuclear facility, no casualties or destruction have been reported.

Director general Mariano Grossi says it is of "vital importance" that operations of the nuclear facilities in the Chernobyl exclusion zone "should not be affected or disrupted in any way".

Chernobyl, located north of Kyiv near the Belarus border, was the site of the most devastating nuclear explosion in history in 1986 when one of its four reactors exploded.

The damaged reactor is now entombed by a steel "confinement structure" and an area of more than 4,000 square kilometres around the facility has been abandoned.

Fifty seven Ukrainians have been killed as a result of the Russian invasion and 169 have been wounded, Ukraine's health minister has confirmed.

Viktor Lyashko says the country's health system is currently stable, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.

However, people who are able to receive outpatient care have been advised to vacate hospital beds for those who may potentially need them.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent, reporting from eastern Ukraine

Image source, Getty Images

There is now a 22:00 curfew in many cities across Ukraine, but the streets begin to empty earlier, as darkness fell. Shops and restaurants are all closed in eastern Ukraine.

Life has changed suddenly here.

In the Donbas region, in the east, people had been nervous about an invasion but didn’t truly believe it until they were woken by the explosions early this morning. It’s a familiar sound: in 2014, many of these towns were overrun by Russian-backed forces.

In the city of Konstantinovka, as her daughter ran around happily in a playground, Nastya told me she’d learned to tell incoming from outgoing fire. She’s used to huddling in a basement. Already forced to flee the fighting once, when her hometown was caught right on the frontline, the mother-of-two can’t bear to uproot her family again.

But for others, the exodus has begun. Some 7,000 people took special evacuation trains out of the Donbas today, dragging their cases to the station with no clue when they’ll be coming home. On the roads, much of the traffic is families heading west.

In Pavlograd, along the route they took, we found workmen and soldiers building a giant checkpoint of concrete blocks and sandbags, preparing for a Russian advance.

We've been speaking to people across Ukraine today who've given us eyewitness accounts as the invasion unfolds.

Sean Cusick from Glasgow, his wife and their two-year-old stepson live near the Russian border in Kharkiv, where air strikes have destroyed the airport.

He was forced to cut short his interview with the BBC after hearing the sound of explosions in the background and a tank.

In his remarks at the White House, President Biden also said that he believes Vladimir Putin "has much larger ambitions" that go far beyond Ukraine's borders.

"He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union," Biden said. "That's what this is about".

"His ambitions are completely contrary to the place where the rest of the world has arrived," he added.

Additionally, Biden said that sanctions against Putin personally "are still on the table" as a possible option in addition to those already announced against Russia's economy and several individuals and entities.

Joe Biden says cutting Russia off from the global Swift banking system is not being proposed "right now".

He says the sanctions already proposed on all the banks are of equal consequence and perhaps even exceed banning Russia from Swift.

"Let's have a conversation in another month or so to see if they're working," he says.

He says the move "is always an option but right now it's not the position the rest of Europe wishes to take."

UK PM Boris Johnson said earlier there was a potential to use Swift as a sanction and "nothing is off the table".

Fierce fighting has broken out at an airbase on the outskirts of Kyiv.

It is understood to be the closest that Russian forces have managed to get to the Ukrainian capital on the first day of their invasion.

Six civilians died in an air strike in Brovary, outside of Kyiv.

The battlelines are quickly moving, however, and some reports are unconfirmed.

Image source, Planet Labs

A satellite appearing to show an attack on Chuguev airbase near Kharkiv has been shared with the BBC.

The picture from Planet Labs shows smoke rising from the airfield in the east of the country.

Russia has targeted air bases and other military installations around Ukraine over the course of the day.

More now on anti-war protests taking place in Russia as Joe Biden takes questions from journalists at the White House.

At least 735 people have been arrested at these protests across Russia today, including more than 330 in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, which tracks arrests at opposition rallies.

Footage from Moscow shows large crowds close to the Kremlin.

Some 2,000 people gathered near Pushkin Square in Moscow and up to 1,000 people in the city of St Petersburg, AFP news agency reports.

Joe Biden says he is adding to the list of Russian elites and their family members that are sanctioned.

"These are people who personally gained from the Kremlin's policies and they should share in the pain," he says.

President Biden says that the Russian invasion of Ukraine betrays the "sinister vision" of Vladimir Putin.

In his remarks, Biden says that the operation was never about "genuine" Russian security concerns, but instead was about naked aggression and Putin's desire "for empire".

"Putin’s actions betray his sinister vision for the future of our world, one where nations take what they want by force," Biden says. "But it is a vision that the United States and freedom-loving nations will oppose."

President Biden has reiterated that US forces "are not, and will not" be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine.

"Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our Nato allies and reassure those allies in the east," he says. "The United States will defend every inch of Nato territory with the full force of American power."

Biden adds that he believes Nato is more united than ever before and that there is "no doubt" the US and other Nato countries will meet their treaty commitments.

Thousands of US ground and other forces have been deployed to Nato countries in eastern Europe that feel threatened by Russia, including Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the Baltic, as well as Poland and Romania.

The US will stop Russia's ability to finance and grow its military, the US president says.

He says the sanctions he is outlining will impair its ability to compete in the high tech 21st Century economy.

Outlining the economic consequences of the invasion already, he points to the Russian rouble hitting its weakest level ever and the Russian stock market plunging today

"We've now sanctioned Russian banks that together hold one trillion dollars in assets," Biden says.

"We've cut off one of Russia's largest banks, which holds one-third of the country's banking assets."

Joe Biden is outlining strong sanctions to "maximise a long-term impact on Russia and to minimise the impact on the United States and its allies".

He says he has agreed with the G7 leaders from the world's largest economies that they will collectively limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen.

Russia's assault on Ukraine has come about largely as predicted by the US, with "baseless claims" and attempts at provocation.

In his remarks, Biden says that the attack follows weeks of warnings from the US.

The president adds that the Russian government's efforts at starting the war included cyber attacks and shelling on Ukrainian and separatist-held positions in eastern Ukraine.

He says Russia staged false-flag operations that resulted in a "flagrant" violation of international law.

He's now outlining sanctions.

Prsident Putin moved 175,00 troops and military equipment to Ukraine's borders and brought blood supplies and built field hospitals, the US president says. This tells you about his intentions all along, he adds.

Putin rejected all attempts at dialogue that the West put on offer that would have avoided suffering and conflict, the president continues.

Image source, White House

Joe Biden begins by saying the Russian military has began a brutal assault on Ukraine without provocation.

It's a premeditated attack that has been planned for months, he says.