EU sanctions - but no travel ban - for Putin and Lavrovpublished at 17:27 Greenwich Mean Time 25 February 2022

17:27 GMT 25 February 2022

Jessica Parker
BBC Brussels correspondent

The EU had already said it would slap asset freezes and travel bans on high ranking politicians and prominent media personalities, not to mention over 300 members of the state Duma.

So the question came - why was President Putin himself escaping such sanctions?

Now it’s emerged that Putin and his well-known Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, will be subject to an asset freeze after all.

Diplomats tell me a corresponding travel ban isn’t part of the picture for the pair because it would be problematic to shut off the possibility of future talks on European soil.

However, it’s not clear what assets the EU has identified, as part of this measure, leading some to suggest it’s a largely "symbolic" move.

Meanwhile, EU sources tell me the idea of cutting Russia off from the Swift international payments system is on the table for a possible third package of sanctions.

The UK has publicly been pushing for the move but says it can’t act in isolation. Some countries, such as Germany, have been reluctant – fearing that should Russia be cut off from a crucial payments system, Russia might start cutting European gas supplies.

Oleg Karpyak
BBC Ukrainian, Kyiv railway station

I've arrived from the east to Kyiv's main railway station, to find it full of people trying to board the trains leaving the capital.

The national railway is saying 80% of trains are still operating, but they have long delays.

Heavily armed police at the station say they allow everyone to board - including people with no tickets - until a coach is full. A police officer tells the crowds: "Women and children first. Follow my orders or we'll shoot." He is deadly serious.

Outside the streets are eerily empty - it bears no resemblance to a normal Friday afternoon. Most restaurants and cafés are closed.

Some food shops are still open, but customers are buying virtually everything they can find in them. Some shelves are empty.

Most people don't wear face masks any more. One of my colleagues was in a long queue at a bakery for freshly made goods, but then an air raid siren went off and everyone hurried to the shelters.

Except for the underground metro, public transport within the city is not working. People are going to the underground stations to find shelter from shelling.

Many families with small children and pets spent last night on subway platforms. They are trying to sleep on blankets and camping mats. Tonight will be the same for many people.

But there is a clear and massive sense of unity and defiance. Strangers share personal stories.

People hug each other, show support to one another and sometimes pray together. Many maintain their good spirits with jokes about President Putin and Russia, most of which are too rude to repeat.

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported a few moments ago, no Russian act will be allowed to compete in this year's Eurovision Song Contest after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The contest will be held in May in Turin after Italian rock band Maneskin won the last edition.

The apparent about-turn comes almost 24 hours after organisers described the competition as a "non-political cultural event" and said they were "currently planning" to host entrants from both Russia and Ukraine this year.

Ukraine's state broadcaster UA:PBC had called for Russia to be suspended, saying Russian broadcasters, who oversee the country's participation in the contest, had been a "mouthpiece" for the Kremlin.

Russia's delegation did not respond to the comments. But tensions between the two countries have overshadowed previous editions of the song contest.

In 2019, Ukraine pulled out of the contest amid its ongoing conflict with Russia over the annexation of Crimea by Putin's forces in 2014.

Pop singer Maruv, who won Ukraine's public vote, withdrew from the contest, saying she refused to be used as a "political tool".

After two other bands declined to take part, Ukraine's broadcaster pulled out of the contest.

And in 2016, despite being favourites to win the contest, Russia was pipped to the post by Ukrainian singer Jamala who won with a song that depicted the deportation of Crimean Tatars by Josef Stalin in 1944 - a horrific chapter that the nation's parliament has described as tantamount to genocide.

The lyrics were widely interpreted as a criticism of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

In 2017, Russian contestant Julia Samoylova was blocked from entering Ukraine, which was hosting the competition, because she had reportedly toured Crimea without entering it through the border with the Ukrainian mainland.

The Ukrainian government considers people who enter the territory via Russia to have crossed the border illegally.

Russian television station Channel One then announced it would not broadcast the contest or take part.

As we reported earlier, some 18,000 guns have been handed out to Ukrainians who have volunteered to defend their country against the ongoing Russian invasion.

Members of the Territorial Defence Forces, the reserve component of the country's military, have been deployed around Kyiv to confront the Russian advance.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A lot of the focus today has been on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, but there's fighting in several other regions of the country.

As we write this, there are reports on social media of at least one large explosion in Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, which is near the Russian border. Earlier, residents there were told to go immediately to a nearby subway station where they could take cover from shelling.

According to Ukraine's President Zelensky, there's also been heavy fighting in the northern city of Chernihiv, which lies between the Belarusian border and Kyiv, and in Melitopol in the south-east.

And Russian forces have breached the defences of Kherson, a major city in Ukraine's south, according to regional officials.

Earlier, the UK Foreign Office summoned the Belarusian ambassador, Maxim Yermalovich, to protest at Belarus’s assistance to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

The Minister for Europe and North America, James Cleverly, said: “Belarus must stop supporting Russia’s illegal and unprovoked actions. We must be united against Russian aggression.”

Cleverly is said by the Foreign Office to have made clear that UK sanctions against Russia would also apply to Belarusian individuals, entities and organisations who have "aided and abetted this reckless aggression".

Belarus is a close ally of Russia, which has used troops there to invade Ukraine from the north.

If you're just joining us, here are the latest headlines:

• Ukraine says that Russian troops are in Kyiv's northern outskirts and have taken Hostomel airport just outside the city

• The UK's Ministry of Defence, however, says that the bulk of Russian forces are still approximately 50km away from the city centre

• In anticipation of a Russian assault on the city, Ukrainian authorities have been distributing 18,000 weapons to local residents. Ukrainian forces have also reportedly destroyed bridges leading into the city

• Earlier today, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine's military to overthrow the government

• US defence officials have said that they believe that Russia's offensive is losing momentum and met more resistance than anticipated.

• Russia has warned of "serious consequences" if Finland or Sweden were to join the Nato alliance

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Supplied

We've been hearing from a British couple who are stranded in Kyiv.

Three weeks ago Manisha and Meraish travelled to Ukraine ahead of the birth of their twins via a surrogate. Yesterday they were meant to pick up the birth certificates for their children, but now they are stuck in the city.

Manisha says it's been a "terrifying time", hearing the explosions and gunfire.

"We were in our apartment, the babies were fine, everything was fine. Then all of a sudden, we were told we can't do anything, it's like a lockdown here, there's a curfew. We were absolutely stuck."

The British embassy has issued them with emergency travel documents – but they have to get to the western city of Lviv to collect them.

Manisha says the roads are gridlocked and the trains are jampacked, and they can't find a driver to take them to the city they need to get to.

Thousands of Kyiv residents are fleeing the capital as Russian forces advance...

We've just told you about the "No To War" hashtag that's trending on Russian social media - and here's the Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev writing "no war please" on a TV camera in a tournament in Dubai.

Rublev is currently ranked seven in the world.

The hashtag "No To War" has been trending on Russian-language social media, including the profiles of a number of Russian celebrities.

The hashtag and caption have been shared approximately 208,000 times on Instagram, sometimes accompanied by a black square. The posts come from Russia and the Russian diaspora, as well as Russian-speaking populations of former Soviet republics.

“Fear and pain. NO TO WAR," read a Thursday post from Ivan Urgant, a popular late-night talk show host.

Other Russian celebrities have also been sharing similar sentiments.

“Do not give in to panic and manipulation of information," wrote Manizha, a Russian-Tajik singer who represented Russia in the 2021 Eurovision contest.

"Now any wrong move or word can be fatal. #Nowar”

Nick Beake
BBC News in Kyiv

As we head out on to the streets of Kyiv we find Ukrainian civilians now bearing arms to protect their country.

Men in trainers and jeans with rifles slung across their backs man checkpoints, and hidden in the trees on the side of the road are other young volunteers lying on the ground behind anti-tank weapons.

As we push on further we find professional soldiers braced for a last stand. They are accompanied by Ukrainian artillery and tanks facing the Russian position, less than 30km from the heart of the capital.

And we soon find signs of the battle drawing even nearer with a truck ablaze in the middle of the road.

Around the corner, my colleague Abdujalil Abdurasulov and I find Olena's family, a group of five.

They’ve got a flat tyre at the worst possible time. They frantically try to change it as they bundle a baby into the back seat.

“We’re really afraid", Olena's mother tells us, before another loud bang silences everyone.

As I ask her what she thinks of President Putin’s attack on her country, an even louder blast pierces the air. She lifts her arms up and says: “You hear that, that was him”.

As we drive on, we spot soldiers lined along wide ridges crossing the river Dnipro. Some Ukrainian snipers are lying on their fronts, looking down their sights. Other colleagues behind them have adopted a similar defensive stance.

We see the faces of young men understandably anxious. There is an undoubted fear it could be just a matter of hours before the Russians confront them face to face and try to seize their capital.

Image source, Getty Images

A spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry has warned that the accession of either Finland or Sweden to the defence alliance Nato would spark a serious response from Moscow.

Speaking during a news briefing in Moscow, Maria Zakharova threatened if either Nordic country sought to join the security alliance it "would have serious military and political consequences that would require our country to take reciprocal steps", Russian news agencies reported.

"We regard the Finnish government’s commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe," Zakharova said.

While Finland co-ooperates with the security alliance in some matters, and is attending today's meeting of the body in Brussels, it has not formally joined the bloc.

Last month, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said it was "very unlikely" that Finland would apply for Nato membership during her term in office.

"We remain dedicated to protecting the values of a cultural competition which promotes international exchange and understanding," the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the competition, said.

Image source, Getty Images

An orphanage in Vorzel, a small town about 40km from Kyiv, has been hit by heavy Russian shelling, Ukraine's prosecutor general has said.

Iryna Venediktova wrote on Facebook that debris from a Russian missile hit an orphanage in the town which houses 50 children.

She said there were no casualties and noted that "measures are being taken on their evacuation".

At the same time, Ukrainian officials announced that a number of children had been injured by Russian shelling of the town of Okhtyrka in the eastern Sumy Oblast.

Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, head of the regional military administration, said that a residential area, several bomb shelters and a kindergarten had been hit by an artillery barrage.

Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Russia of showing a "blatant disregard" for civilian life during its invasion of Ukraine.

The group alleges Russia is lying about its use of precision-guided weapons - and is instead carrying out indiscriminate attacks using ballistic missiles and other explosive weapons.

These attacks could constitute war crimes, it says.

In a report released on Friday, external, it noted three incidents which left six civilians dead and 12 more injured since the invasion started on Thursday.

The highest loss of life came when a missile hit near a hospital in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Friday morning. Four civilians were killed and 10 more injured.

Image source, EPA

A US defence official has said Russian forces have lost momentum in their invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Reuters news agency the official said no Ukrainian population centres have been taken so far, but some Russian missiles have impacted residential areas.

They added there are also indications of cyber attacks against the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in the south of Ukraine.

Caroline Davies
BBC Moscow Correspondent - in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border

Through the sheets of snow, we spot them.

About a dozen military vehicles, parked in a field to the side of the main road from Belgorod in Russia to Kharkiv in Ukraine.

Trucks, armoured vehicles and sections of missile launchers are dotted around this part of the border.

We are less than 20 miles from Ukraine.

After a day of bright sunshine, today’s weather was foggy, with snow falling thickly.

Today, we hear no sounds of an assault, but in Belgorod’s city centre, residents say they heard explosions yesterday.

Media reports show what are thought to be outgoing missiles from here in Russian territory towards Ukraine.

Some residents repeat President Putin’s rhetoric.

“We were upset and scared. I even started to pack up thinking that we will have to leave,” Natalia tells me.

“But it was OK soon, the president explained it all that they will only target military objects. All our relatives live there, so it’s unpleasant, but there was no other way out.”

There is already evidence that non-military targets have been hit in Ukraine.

Others are not reassured.

Lena lives 1km from the border. She’s pregnant and worried about her family. “Of course we got frightened,” she tells me.

“For now, we decided to move to Belgorod. We don’t have any idea of what is going on.”

Her niece Masha says: “There’s nothing good in it. I’m not interested in politics, but it’s a shame that ordinary people have to suffer. We are brotherly people. I can’t find words to express it.”

Ukraine's foreign ministry has urged the international community to "show solidarity" by imposing more sanctions on Russia - and severing relations with Moscow.

A list of steps published by the ministry on Twitter also includes banning Russia from the Swift international payments system and the expulsion of Russian ambassadors worldwide.

The bulk of Russian forces advancing on Ukraine's capital Kyiv are more than 50km from the centre of the city, the UK's Ministry of Defence says.

Sharing its latest "Defence Intelligence" on Twitter, it adds that Russian armoured vehicles have opened up a new advance route towards the capital, having been unsuccessful in capturing Chernihiv, a city in the north of Ukraine.

It also says officials will continue to monitor reports of "sporadic clashes" between Russian troops and Ukrainians in the northern suburbs of the capital.