Ukraine: How UK, US and the rest of the world reacted BBC Newsround

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Britain should stop spreading nonsense, but the British allegations do echo similar warnings made by the American government on Thursday. In Kyiv, some Ukrainian government officials appear to be taking them seriously. Ever since, Ukraine's military has been locked in a war with Russian-backed rebels in areas of the east near Russia's borders. However, he told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme it was "extremely unlikely" British troops would be sent to defend Ukraine, adding that the country was not a Nato ally. UK ministers have warned that the Russian government will face serious consequences if there is an incursion.

Some bars and restaurants in Kyiv were offering free drinks to anyone who had a UK passport. The UK therefore faces price rises on three fronts as a result of the invasion – oil, gas and food – at a time when inflation is already high and many are facing a cost-of-living crisis. The country is one of the world’s largest grain suppliers, meaning conflict is likely to cause supply problems, especially in Europe. He said he was launching a “special military operation” in the east of the country. We will continue to work with Ukraine and our international partners for a just and sustainable peace.

Subscribe to The Week

This culminated on 29 December, when Russian unleashed its largest aerial assault against Ukraine since the war began. It killed at least 41 civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, wounded hundreds, and caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure, including a maternity hospital. At the press conference he said the US would be introducing new sanctions to  "maximise long-term impact on Russia" but said US forces would not be engaging in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine. The PM told the House of Commons the UK would introduce "the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen".

Many analysts say Beijing in particular is looking on as it formulates its own plans to reunify Taiwan with mainland China. The fear is that if Russia is allowed to invade Ukraine unresisted, that might act as a signal to other leaders that the days of Western powers intervening in other conflicts are over. Fighting could spread into Belarus where Russian forces are already stationed. Nato powers are already promising to build up their own forces in the alliance's eastern flank. After 2,000 anti-tank weapons were delivered last week and 30 British troops arrived to teach Ukrainian forces how to use them, the phrase "God Save the Queen" began trending on Twitter in Ukraine.

• But that is still far below the estimate of 25,000 dead given by the UK defence ministry in June, while Ukraine claims the figure is about 50,000.
• But he said even that is not enough - so the Army should be designed to expand rapidly "to enable the first echelon, resource the second echelon, and train and equip the citizen army that must follow".
• However, those sanctions are “now expected to be significantly expanded”, said The Times.
• Moscow has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Tabaivka in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace branded Russia's actions "naked aggression against a democratic country" and said no one had been fooled by the Kremlin's "false flags and fake narratives".
• The conflict in Ukraine offers a glimpse of how Britain might prepare for self-defence.

That, though, is partly because Ukraine had already learnt from previous Russian cyberattacks over the past decade. Another potential threat could come from anti-war politicians, whom Kremlin propagandists might seek to incite. In extremis, a wartime government could inter anyone deemed a threat to public order or the war effort. The government says it wants to spend 2.5% of national income on defence - but has still not said when. He was not making a case for conscription or for an imminent call up of volunteers.

UK sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Currently Russian men aged are obliged to do military service, usually for one year, but there are many exemptions on medical grounds or for students. Russia has a normal limit of just over a million military personnel and almost 900,000 civilian staff - but last month President Putin signed a decree to recruit 137,000 more. The Kremlin launched a massive recruitment drive, offering big financial incentives. So extra troops were drafted in, especially from poor regions of Siberia and the Caucasus, including experienced Chechen fighters.

Forces are on standby in eastern Europe, and Nato is working with Ukraine to modernise its forces and protect it against cyber attacks. The foreign secretary also warned last week that harsh UK sanctions could have far-reaching consequences. Meanwhile Kaja Kallas, the Prime Minister of Estonia - which borders Russia - has told BBC News "we're gonna help Ukraine with all the means that we can" including political support and by sending weapons. "This renewed attack is a grave violation of international law, including the UN Charter," Nato said.

A senior Western intelligence official has warned that if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, a conflict could spill over further into Europe.  https://euronewstop.co.uk/how-many-aircraft-has-russia-lost-in-ukraine.html , another senior Nato military chief said countries needed to be on alert "and expect the unexpected". Adm Rob Bauer, who heads the alliance's military committee, said the public needed to change their mindset for an era "when anything can happen at any time".

• A little earlier, we told you about a report in the Financial Times that the EU was proposing to sabotage Hungary's economy if Budapest blocks further aid for Ukraine this week.
• UK ministers have warned that the Russian government will face serious consequences if there is an incursion.
• The price of British gas for next-day delivery shot up by 40 per cent, to £280 per therm.

Several other fossil fuel companies including TotalEnergies, Shell, Equinor, ExxonMobil are also ceasing ventures with Russian majors. With a grave humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine, some fear the war will distract from climate action. It comes after a senior Nato military official warned that private citizens should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, which would require wholesale change in their lives. Western intelligence estimates that Russia already has up to 100,000 troops positioned near to the border with Ukraine, along with tanks and artillery.

• But it is a formal, public and written commitment by the UK to support Ukraine.
• On Tuesday, Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, met with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, where he urged others to join the UK in increasing their aid.
• Earlier, No 10 said there were no plans to send British combat troops to defend Ukraine, however.
• European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO.
• The conflict could push up British energy bills to £3,000 in October 2022, potentially a £600 increase from previously expected levels, according to ECIU.
• On Sunday, the UK Foreign Office accused Mr Putin of planning to install a pro-Moscow figure to lead Ukraine's government, naming former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a possible candidate.

One ex senior minister suggested to me that there was a generational divide between those who had lived with the threat of the Cold War era, and those who had not. The former minister, currently a serving Conservative MP, pointed out that the prime minister grew up without that existential threat. Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil. The prospect of further UK sanctions against Russia comes a day after the prime minister announced that five Russian banks had had their assets frozen and three Russian billionaires would have travel bans imposed. The latest move by Russia has drawn international  condemnation, with US President Joe Biden denouncing Russia's military action as an "unprovoked and unjustified attack", declaring "the world will hold Russia accountable".

• “Russia is Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas,” the i news site said, “providing around 35% of the gas used across the continent.” But “the UK’s reliance on Russian gas is far less significant, at just 3%”.
• Since the beginning of the Ukrainian revolution and Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, the United Kingdom has actively supported Ukraine and publicly condemned Russian actions.
• President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda also said he was signing a state of emergency to be approved by parliament.
• UK officials said they are “braced for significant petrol price rises at the pump”.
• Mr Johnson was among leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations who met to discuss the situation.

Germany's Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, recently told a German newspaper "we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day". While he said such an attack is unlikely now, "our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible". Dozens of British troops have been in Ukraine since 2015 to help train their armed forces, and the UK has also made a commitment to help rebuild Ukraine's navy following Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014. Also named is Volodymyr Sivkovych, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, who was this week made the subject of US sanctions for allegedly working with Russian intelligence. It said some of the individuals had been in contact with Russian intelligence officers working on an invasion plan.

Some migrants might stay in neighbouring Poland and eastern European countries, but some might head further west and eventually end up in the UK. Many analysts fear war in Ukraine could potentially spill over into other European countries. But both of these demands would break key Nato principles, namely that the alliance should be open to any European country that wants to join and that all Nato members should be sovereign nations. It is called self-determination, and perhaps the most important aspect of this principle is that borders cannot be changed by invading armies. It may not be a member of the European Union or Nato, but it is an ally of European powers and has a pro-Western government. Around 900 British troops are stationed in Estonia under Operation Cabrit, the UK’s contribution to Nato’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic states, which some fear could also be targeted by Mr Putin.

The prime minister has said that the UK is planning to send more weapons and non-lethal kit such as helmets to Ukraine. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the UK will launch retaliatory cyber attacks on Russia if it targets the country’s computer networks, telling the House of Commons that “offensive cyber capability” is being developed. But the efforts to disrupt Ukrainian infrastructure have prompted “concerns that the same sort of attack could now be attempted in the UK”, the Daily Mail said.