The soldiers, which would take part in NATO's operations in Estonia, would be deployed in the first half of March, the country's chief of defence told journalists at a press briefing.

Zelensky said Thursday Kyiv's forces were fighting invading Russian troops for control of the Chernobyl plant, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

"I told him to leave," the man in his 30s sobbed, next to the twisted ruins of a car.

"As a result of strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces, 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities were destroyed," said Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry spokesman.

“Stop the war. War brings misery to mankind and puts the world at risk,” President Jokowi tweeted on Thursday.

Putin announced the launch of a major military offensive and ground troops crossed into the country from several directions on Thursday, with explosions heard in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine in what appeared to be the start of war in Europe.

"President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia," Guterres said, speaking after an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.

The sounds were heard shortly after Russia announced a military operation in Ukraine.  

In an address aired shortly after midnight Zelensky said Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now" and, addressing the Russian people, said whether that happens "depends on you."

Safe Airspace, which was set up to provide safety and conflict zone information for airlines after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014, said it had increased its risk level to "do not fly".

During an appearance on a rightwing radio program, the hosts asked Trump about Putin recognizing two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.

"Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time," Blinken said.

The situation over Ukraine escalated when Russia, which has been massing troops near Ukraine for months, recognized on Monday the two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent and ordered troops to be deployed there for "peacekeeping" missions.

As leader of the G20, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called for the swift yet measured handling of the Ukraine crisis to avoid catastrophe at a time of urgent collaboration.

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the Russian ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, also warned Western powers to 'think twice' and not worsen the situation in Ukraine.

Earlier, the Kremlin leader recognised the independence of two rebel-held areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, paving the way for an operation to deploy part of the potential invasion force he has massed around the country.

"We are confronted with a very, very dramatic situation," France's ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere told reporters before entering the council chamber.  France was among a handful of nations that called the emergency session at the instigation of Ukraine.

It was that intelligence that gave US President Joe Biden the confidence to say Friday he was "convinced" his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had decided to invade, the reports said.

A cross-border media investigation broke Sunday claiming that Switzerland's second-largest bank had held tens of billions of dollars of ill-gotten funds, claims based on an insider's massive data leak.

The two leaders accepted the idea of such a meeting after French President Emmanuel Macron held separate phone talks with both of them. Preparations will be made when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet Thursday in Europe.

"The queen has today tested positive for COVID," the Palace said. "Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold like symptoms but expects to continue light duties at Windsor over the coming week."

A first hearing has been set for June 15 in Paris for civil proceedings that claim a violation of privacy and fundamental personal rights, and illicit use of her image.

"Unfortunately, at the moment, an attack, an invasion seems far more likely than unlikely but we will continue to work to try and avert that," James Cleverly told Sky News.

Epstein, who was arrested in New York in July 2019 on charges of trafficking underage girls for sex, was found hanged in his New York jail cell the following month while awaiting trial over abuses involving girls at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the Caribbean.

Harris will also deliver a highly anticipated address warning Russia that an invasion would likely lead to an even bigger NATO footprint on its doorstep and that it will face huge financial costs if it invades Ukraine, according to a senior US administration official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

During a contentious G20 meeting hosted by Indonesia, Freeland directly addressed Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina and warned them that Russia would face "crushing" sanctions in the event of an invasion.

Over the weekend, civilians were evacuated from increasingly barraged front line regions where Kyiv said Saturday two of its soldiers had died in an attack -- the first fatalities in the conflict in more than a month.

News of the drills come as Russia announces the pullback of troops from around Ukraine, a force that had driven concerns in the West -- particularly Washington -- that Moscow was planning an imminent attack.