as president putin went ukraine as president putin went on television to announce a military operation in donbass. the ukrainian ambassador to the un was involved in a tense stand—off with his russian counterpart. ll stand-off with his russian counterpart.— stand-off with his russian counterpart. stand-off with his russian counterart. , ., , counterpart. it is too late, my dear colleagues, _ counterpart. it is too late, my dear colleagues, to _ counterpart. it is too late, my dear colleagues, to speak - counterpart. it is too late, my l dear colleagues, to speak about the escalation, too late. the russian president declared a war. should i play the video of your president? ambassador, should i do that right now? we can confirm it. do not interrupt me please. thank you. then don't ask me questions when — then don't ask me questions when you _ then don't ask me questions when you are speaking. anyway... you declared the war. it is the responsibility of this body to stop the war. so i call on everyone of you to do everything possible to stop the war. orshould i everything possible to stop the war. or should i play the video

of the president declaring the war? thank you very much. translation: l war? thank you very much. translation:— war? thank you very much. translation: i must say that i thank him for _ translation: i must say that i thank him for his _ translation: i must say that i thank him for his statement - translation: i must say that i i thank him for his statement and questions i wasn't planning to answer them, questions i wasn't planning to answerthem, because questions i wasn't planning to answer them, because i have only said all i know at this point. only said all i know at this oint. ~ . ~ , only said all i know at this oint. ~ .,~ , ~ , point. waking up minister lavrov is _ point. waking up minister lavrov is something - point. waking up minister lavrov is something i - point. waking up minister lavrov is something i am | point. waking up minister. lavrov is something i am not planning _ lavrov is something i am not planning to do at this time. the — planning to do at this time. the information we have is something we will provide and this isn't— something we will provide and this isn't called a war, this is called _ this isn't called a war, this is called a _ this isn't called a war, this is called a social military operation of donbass. that was its ordinary _ operation of donbass. that was its ordinary exchange _ operation of donbass. that was its ordinary exchange between | its ordinary exchange between the ukrainian representative in the ukrainian representative in the russian representative at that un security council meeting a little bit earlier. it was of course pretty dramaticjust minutes really dramatic just minutes really after dramaticjust minutes really after president putin had announced he is moving troops into ukraine. let's go live to singapore now and speak to our asia business correspondence marico oil. how have markets been reacting to this news? this

been reacting to this news? as ou can been reacting to this news? is you can imagine, the stock market here in asia are trading lower between two to 3%, but more notably we have seen oil pricesjumping above more notably we have seen oil prices jumping above $100 more notably we have seen oil pricesjumping above $100 a barrel for the first time in seven years. traders and investors are very much concerned about possible disruptions and energy supplies of course, russia suppliers quite a lot of natural gas and oil to europe, but also, to asian countries like china, so we have been seen oil prices climbing as tensions escalated, butjust climbing as tensions escalated, but just as climbing as tensions escalated, butjust as russian resident announced that military operation, we saw the oil price jumping above $100. meanwhile, at a time of crisis like this, investors like to go to what they consider safe haven assets, gold prices, the highest level that we have seen in over a year, although the us dollar and the japanese yen also considered safe haven currencies. they are strengthening as well. has

there been _ strengthening as well. has there been any _ strengthening as well. has there been any reaction from businesses, individual businesses, individual businesses in the region? there have been _ businesses in the region? there have been monitoring _ businesses in the region? there have been monitoring the - have been monitoring the situation very closely, especially in an area that has announced they will probably join the us and its allies in imposing sanctions, halep that may affect business operations and so on, and also of course a huge concern is the energy supplier, as i say, russia does explore quite a lot of oil and gas, and it has been quite interesting to monitor where china stands in this tension, of course at the start beijing was accusing president biden of stoking tensions, but then they started to change their tone, voicing concerns about ukraine sovereignty, of course china is the biggest export market for both russia and ukraine, so while beijing has expressed support towards president putin, of course president putin, of course president putin was at the winter... in

beijing, meeting with president xijinping of china, but beijing, meeting with president xi jinping of china, but at the same time, china has a lot of economic interest in ukraine as well, so it is a tricky balancing act as well there. very interesting. thank you very much indeed, mariko oi, bringing us up—to—date with how businesses in the market has reacted to the latest news. let's go now, we can go back to kyiv and talk to james waterhouse, our correspondence in care for us. james, you are talking earlier when we were speaking about explosions, about shelling also has more at that been taking place?- that been taking place? since we last spoke. _ that been taking place? since we last spoke, we _ that been taking place? since we last spoke, we have - that been taking place? since we last spoke, we have heard another one, maybe two very faint rumblings, i have got to say, across the horizon. where we are is quite central in kyiv, and if you plan right across, those rumblings have been happening far out of sight. i compare it to faint thunder if you like. a government official has said

this morning cruz and michelle strikes have been launched here on the capital. so the fears all along since the russian troops built up last april as well as when the krimea was annexed eight years ago, and these militants moved into the east of the country, the fears that a great escalation would happen seem to be getting realised. some colleagues in the east, they have heard a loud explosion there,, there are troop movements in odessa, they are also crossing the border, so i to the south, troops crossing the border in kharkiv, to the east, which is maybe 25 miles from the russian border. there were pro ukraine demonstrations are a couple of weeks ago, nationalflags waving, so seems to be some movement there. i think what this shows is we have also heard of troop movements in the south—west of russia. what this

is suggesting is the early signs are according to witnesses and government officials, that this is something quite large scale. president putin has announced what he calls a special military operation in the east and donbass region. don't let know what that means, but he gave orders for troops to move into those occupied territories. the question is whether he would go further and try to take control of the whole of the luhansk and burlesque regions. —— donetsk regions. it seems like he is escalating things, and that is effectively an act of war. the foreign minister has said a full—scale invasion on his country has begun. president biden has condemned it. he said everyone puzzling thoughts and prayers are with the people of ukraine. yes, right now, in between the punctuation of those faint explosions in the

capital... wejust heard capital... we just heard another capital... wejust heard another huge bang just over my left shoulder, just towards the river to the south—west of their. again, out of shot. but a very worrying sign this morning that this crisis is escalating, and escalating in a full—scale way. i mean, it is terrifying to speaking to you, james. , ., , , terrifying to speaking to you, james. , ., _ . ., james. obviously concern for our james. obviously concern for your safety- _ james. obviously concern for your safety. but _ james. obviously concern for your safety. but everyone . james. obviously concern for your safety. but everyone in | your safety. but everyone in the cities that are having to now live in constant fear. this is it. i mean, _ now live in constant fear. this is it. i mean, worries- now live in constant fear. this is it. i mean, worries have - is it. i mean, worries have been building. we speak to ukrainians all the time, but that worry about the uncertainty. now because those anxiety will fixate on the events that have started unfolding since five o'clock this morning, these faint rumblings alongside what appears to be troop movements across other parts of the country. it makes you want to look around, it makes you want to see what is going to be

happening. we don't know what is specifically being targeted, but this is... president putin whose words have been very carefully listens to hear, they have caused a lot of concern, and his words this morning that the people of ukraine will be free to choose who they want to run this country, given what we are seeing and hearing this morning, i don't think anyone is going to be believing that. the last russian leaning president was toppled eight years ago in revolutions stage to my left shoulder on independence square, which are looking very quiet this morning, and the sensitivity since then, the worry is that russia, after its annexation of crimea, the worry was that russia would try and exert its influence on the main once more, and it seems to be doing that now in a much more overt way. yeah, and can you just talk to us a little bit about any kind of reparations that

authorities have given the people, or is this is coming such a shock?— people, or is this is coming such a shock? obviously the last two hours _ such a shock? obviously the last two hours have - such a shock? obviously the last two hours have been . such a shock? obviously the last two hours have been a i last two hours have been a rollercoaster in terms of volodymyr zelenskyy getting up and talking very passionately and talking very passionately and vladimir putin saying it will happen and it actually happening. overthe will happen and it actually happening. over the few weeks and months, have ever been given warnings and training by the authorities and the government?— the authorities and the rovernment? . ., �* ~ government? yeah, i don't think shock given _ government? yeah, i don't think shock given what _ shock given what ukrainians have gone through is quite the right word. i would suggest that there have been bomb shelters shared in the city, underground car parks, bars underground, ukrainians have been sharing their grab bags online, but of course you can only mitigate so much for the feeling of the sound of missiles finally landing on a day, in a week when those fears

are realised. ukrainians are used to russian aggression. this has been something they have lived with, notjust the last eight years, but beyond. the country has found herself many a time in history fighting for its sovereignty to be recognised by the wider world. what will be a new, development and experience for ukrainians is the sound of missile strikes not just is the sound of missile strikes notjust here in the capital, but the site of, reports we're getting the site of foreign troops moving into that the certainty that brings, and what does that mean for the future? president zelensky haslam said that country will fight, the country public military is a lot stronger than it was eight years ago, it has received billions of dollars of funding in military from the west, but we know not one nato bridge as it stands will set foot on nato —— ukrainians oil. that is the heart of this crisis. it is

ukrainians to defend itself in the heart of an escalation, and it looks like that event is very much started. absolutely. it has all happened _ very much started. absolutely. it has all happened so fast. - very much started. absolutely. it has all happened so fast. it i it has all happened so fast. it has there been any official reaction to vladimir putin's comments? we have obviously heard the ukrainian member at the un security meeting speaking incredibly passionately in ukraine's defence, but has a government of president zelensky or anyone come out and responded to what is happening now? is i come out and responded to what is happening now?— is happening now? as i say, the foreian is happening now? as i say, the foreign minister— is happening now? as i say, the foreign minister has _ is happening now? as i say, the foreign minister has put - is happening now? as i say, the foreign minister has put out - is happening now? as i say, the foreign minister has put out a l foreign minister has put out a tweet saying a full—scale invasion has begun. he said people ukrainian cities are under strikes, this is a war of aggression. ukraine will defend itself and will win or stop the world can and must stop it in, the time to act is now — that must stop preaching. the language for months has been

stay calm, don't panic. that is what russia wants. yesterday, a state of emergency was announced. more than 30,000 reservists were called up to the military. the defence minister resnick overdressed troops saying there would be big losses, hard or deals ahead, we must hold our line, hold down urban victory will prevail. that is not an address you give if you are hoping for a diploma to come to this crisis. and it is the first time we have seen ukrainian officials, the language of ukrainian officials start to mirror with these grim assessments by the west. the west along said the invasion would have an now. last wednesday was a conviction, so we are now seeing ukrainian ministers start to align with the west on that front. they have also said they see no intelligence to suggest a full—scale invasion. but i have to say over the last 2a, 36 hours, perhaps the reality of

the situation has become a lot more clear to all sides, we know an estimated 50,000 russian troops on the border, the military hardware they had brought with them. there were claims by the kremlin that they pulled back with these carefully released videos stop the wester didn't buy that at all, they said the opposite is happening. ukraine kept saying we have not seen any evidence. there is nothing to suggest even the clustering of troops that were there will be an invasion. i have to say the sound of faint... air strikes rumblings, as the government describes, crews and missile strikes on the horizon paints a very immediate and indifferent picture here in the capital. it is terrifying and it is getting lighter, so 6:li3am local time, people are waking up to this. what happens today? what happens now do you think in terms of the response from ukraine?—

terms of the response from ukraine? ~ , ukraine? well, given president putin has announced _ ukraine? well, given president putin has announced to - ukraine? well, given president putin has announced to the - putin has announced to the special military operation in the east of the country, that is where the majority of ukrainian forces are based. this is a sizeable, we have quoted, a force of 200,000 all up, and they have always said they would defend themselves, so should russian troops go further than the occupied territories in the donbass region to the east, then there will be fighting. there will be... war will be taking place if you can put it so crudely. but given that we are seeing troop movements, reported troop movements to the south in odessa, close to the russian border, as well as crossing the border, as well as crossing the border in kharkiv to the east, we can assume, given what ukrainian officials have said, that they will be defending themselves there. for normal ukrainians, citizens here in the city, they will be acting

on their long drawn out plans, grabbing their bags, getting underground. it is a very observant time, and given ukraine's obligated history with russia, despite all of that, many ukrainians won't have experienced this before, the sound of missile strikes happening in the distance, the unknown of what exactly these missiles are meant to be targeting. all signs are pointing to russia trying to get rid of the current government. that seems to be clear, the clear aim. but we just don't know what is going to happen next. i think that is just one of the things that shocked me the most, we heard the loud explosion not far from you that really shook, really big, and ukraine and russia have been at war for

ukraine and russia have been at warfor eight years and ukraine and russia have been at war for eight years and in warfor eight years and in these war for eight years and in these regions people have lived with well but when it comes to the capital city,, orchestrated the capital city, , orchestrated across the capital city,, orchestrated across the whole country at various cities, when the president of another country comes out and says we are moving troops into your country, how is a person living peacefully in ukraine, how do you deal with that? how are people going to cope with that? this is it. the most striking thing is how used ukrainian art to such sustained period of aggression. more than 111,000 ukrainians have lost their lives in eight years of war, especially in the ease. but misinformation, the country infrastructure coming under attack, the finger usually pointed at russia in those instances and eight years is a long time to be shocked by that

and they are used to it. they often talk about their desire to fight. some have upped sticks and moved west to people like lviv that that is just the sound of screeching car over there — but in a city quite lively, people walking, filling pavements but this morning it is quiet. the signature cobbled streets here are quiet. the light have just gone out, the sun rising over saint michael's cathedral over my shoulder but given there is something larger scale happening here, ukrainians say i want to stay and fight, this is not been a battle of identity and they have admitted they don't know what it means because we are hearing and some other seeing is something larger scale and we don't know if there is going to be fighting and it is those unknowns that are part of the

escalation many people hoped would not happen but that has always been a grim possibility given how specifically things have built since russian troops filled the border last april. personally, a final question from me, how shocked are you because you have been covering this for weeks and months, years, and you have heard all of the rumours, you have heard vladimir putin saying this is western hysteria, you heard from the west that it all looks like from intelligence this attack was going to take place but when you are hearing explosions in your city and reading what you are reading, how shocked are you buy this? i think this is exactly — if you look at the trend of what russia has done, the length russia has done, the length russia has done, the length russia has been willing to go to exert its influence, to use ukraine to make a point to both

nato and the west as a whole, to say, look, i am nato and the west as a whole, to say, look, iam not nato and the west as a whole, to say, look, i am not happy with nato expansion. he sees it as a security risk. he has long talked about ukrainian and russian is being the same, he calls them brothers. yesterday, you heard it is angry speech when he said there was no basis for ukrainians is a distance as a country. he talked with contempt about ukraine. when the moscow leading leading president was removed from power in revolutions that lasted for months and months, people died on independence square that, in freezing temperatures because they wanted a democratic government to represent the will of the people, almost immediately after that happened, russia annexed crimea. all of a sudden, there was an official

and very present ability presents an event you had russia backed militant moving into the ease of the country, occupying territories. people living in elderly, behind. a champion football team play their home game 300 miles away. we have never been under any illusion to the length russia would go and it is escalation is on form, if you like, as russia tries to either — we have even hoped that president putin was taking things to the blink to try and force the rest of some kind of concession on his core demands that ukraine never becomes a member and that the alliance scales back. these have been rethought — another couple of faint explosions,

light floods if you like — could this have been president putin take things to the brink to get the west to me. the time has not changed in fact the military presence in nature has gone up and it feels like he has gone on the brink in terms of a larger military, large—scale military operation so, as i say, we have had reports of troop movements to the eastern city of kharkiv, to the eastern city of kharkiv, to the south in edessa, on the coast of the black sea, to the east in kramatorsk an in the belgorod province south—west of russia. quoting official saying the invasion has begun suggest something larger scale has begun and this has been very much part of the taper of not just ten months of troop

buildup but eight years of sustained aggression by ukraine's larger, much more powerful neighbour.- ukraine's larger, much more powerful neighbour. james, you are aaivin analysis which is really remarkable given the circumstances you are in, with shelling around you. thank you very much indeed to bringing us up very much indeed to bringing us up to date. thank you very much indeed. president biden released a statement on russia's unjustified attack he says... president

four viewers who may have just joined us, let remind you what has happened the last few hours. earlierthis has happened the last few hours. earlier this evening or yesterday, we had president volodymyr zelenskyy giving a heartfelt plea to russia saying you can stop this war, we want peace. a few hours later, a un security council meeting and in that meeting, they were trying to discuss how to stop a war from happening but at exactly the same time that meeting was going on, admit went on russian tv and announced "special military operation" in numbers, and invasion. —— vladimir putin. we have heard of explosions across ukraine and troop movements. mark has been with me all night. grim news.

what is the latest you are getting? what is the latest you are caettin ? , , what is the latest you are heflin ? , , ., what is the latest you are urettin? ,, ., ., what is the latest you are urettin? ,, . ., ., , getting? less than two hours since president _ getting? less than two hours since president putin - getting? less than two hours since president putin had - getting? less than two hours since president putin had a i since president putin had a special invasion,, military centres, military headquarters and airfields are being targeted in different parts of the country. we have heard of artillery fire in the eastern region we were expecting the trip movement. from james, hearing of trips and different parts of the north and south, coming across the border. they are only unconfirmed report. international condonation, frustration and anger. the head of nato saying, again, appealing to president putin to go back the trip. the head of the security council at the un, repealing to president putin to draw back those trips. we had news reporter from a defence

officially russia saying that not going to be targeting cities with missile attacks and rocket attacks. —— troops. we can piece together from what ukrainian official saying they are attacking airfields and military headquarters but, still, from james abbas reporting, you can see how quickly things in kyiv have changed. —— james's quickly things in kyiv have changed. ——james's reporting. it seems too late for troop withdrawal. you are watching bbc news. stay tuned. hello there. high pressure's expected to build in across the country to end this week and into the weekend to settle things down, bring us some sunshine and lighter winds. but before that point, thursday looks very unsettled.

it'll be cold and windy with sunshine and even wintry showers. now, the cold air�*s been moving in across the country during the overnight period behind this weather front, this band of rain, which is actually a cold front. it'll be lying across the south east of england and east anglia to start thursday morning. some heavy rain on that, bit of sleet on its back edge, but eventually it'll clear out during the mid to latter part of the morning, and then we're all into brighter skies, sunshine and blustery showers. these will be wintry across northern and western areas, particularly on the hills. frequent snow showers across scotland, northern ireland, mixed in with thunder and lightning. also start off with an ice risk across northern scotland, too. it's going to be a windy day across the board, widespread gales across the northern half of the uk. and these temperatures much lower than they've been of late, 4—8 degrees across the south. factor in the wind, it'll feel even colder than those temperatures suggest. those showers with thunder and lightning and snow continue across the north of the uk during thursday night. the winds will start to turn light as a ridge

of high pressure moves in, and that'll also help kill off some of the showers. temperature—wise, ranging from around freezing to five degrees across the south. so, you can see this ridge of high pressure building in for friday. it'll push the strong winds and the showers away from northern and eastern areas gradually through the day, so it could start quite windy across eastern england in towards the south east. one or two showers, but as that ridge of high pressure builds in, it'll settle things down, increasing amounts of sunshine, the winds falling lighter. so, temperatures will respond. highs of around 10—11, maybe 12 degrees across the south. a touch higher across the north, too. so, that's friday, then, a fine picture. we hold onto our area of high pressure into the weekend as well, particularly for england and wales, but you'll notice these weather fronts starting to push into the far north and the west, particularly as we head on into sunday, so it will be going downhill there during part two of the weekend. so, plenty of dry weather around on saturday, particularly for england and wales. that lasts across england and wales on sunday, but it starts to turn breezier,

cloudier and wetter across the north and the west.

this is bbc news. i'm victoria fritz with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. reports of explosions in the ukrainian capital as vladimir putin announces a special military operation in ukraine. translation: whoever tries to interfere with us or threaten our country should know that russia's response will be immediate and delayed such consequences that have never been experienced in history. the united nations security council holds an emergency meeting on the crisis with the secretary general making a direct plea to the russian leader. in the name of humanity, do not allow to start in europe what