Russia-Ukraine conflict: UK hints at unprecedented sanctions on Russia

The West will impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia after President Vladimir Putin authorised an invasion of Ukraine, British junior foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday.

“We will be bringing forward … in close concert with our international friends and allies, an unprecedented sanctions response, coordinated sanctions response, to punish this appalling decision,” Cleverly told Sky News.

He said some of the new sanctions would be announced and implemented on Thursday.

Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the worst fears of the West.

Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders into the eastern Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, and landing by sea at the cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.

Explosions could be heard before dawn in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Gunfire rattled out near the main airport and sirens blared across the city.

A resident of Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv, the closest big city to the Russian border, said windows in apartment blocks were shaking from constant blasts. The city was gripped by panic as people tried to flee, said the resident, who asked not to be identified.

Ukraine’s President Volodymur Zelenskiy said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s aim was to destroy his state.