This morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled a new package of sanctions against Russian business interests.

She says that Putin’s invasion “beginning of a new era” of relations between the bloc and Russia, echoing her colleague Josep Borrell’s comments earlier this week who said Russia faced “unprecedented isolation” on the global stage.

In a series of tweets early this morning, von der Leyen said the sanctions show “how united the EU is”.

The package of massive and targeted sanctions approved tonight shows how united the EU is.

First, this package includes financial sanctions, targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state owned companies, including in defence. https://t.co/iKVGfnafKp

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 25, 2022

She said: “First, this package includes financial sanctions, targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state-owned companies, including in defence.

Second, we target the energy sector, a key economic area which especially benefits the Russian state. Our export ban will hit the oil sector by making it impossible for Russia to upgrade its refineries.  

“Third: we ban the sale of aircrafts and equipment to Russian airlines.

“Fourth, we are limiting Russia’s access to crucial technology, such as semiconductors or cutting-edge software.

“Finally: visas. Diplomats and related groups and business people will no longer have privileged access to the European Union.”

Here’s just a very, very quick recap of the other major developments overnight that you may have missed:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree ordering a general mobilisation as his country faces a large-scale invasion by Russian troops.
• “We have been left alone to defend our state,” Zelensky said. “Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone.”
• He added that Russian saboteurs had entered the capital Kyiv with plans to assassinate him and depose him as head of state.  
• Loud bangs have been heard in the capital Kyiv as Russian forces intensify their air attacks, the Financial Times reports this morning.

Reports of heavy aerial bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv continue to pour in.

RTÉ’s Europe Editor Tony Connelly also says this morning that Ukrainian airborne troops have blown up a bridge over the Teteriv River, 50k to the north of Kyiv, in a bid to slow the Russian advance.

Early morning picture in Kyiv: a number of heavy airstrikes overnight, air-raid sirens going off throughout the night, people staying in shelters and in the metro system. President Zelenskiy in an early address says 137 dead so far across the country

— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) February 25, 2022

The Ukrainian army is certainly claiming a few victories this morning anyway.

AFP reports that the military said it had stopped advancing Russian forces at the Teteriv River, a tributary of the Dnieper River that flows through Kyiv.

The army added that a bridge over it was destroyed, similar to what Tony Connelly reported from Kyiv earlier.

The army also said it had retaken the Gostomel airfield, with reports that it had been captured by Russian forces yesterday.

But AFP has not been able to immediately verify this.

Speaking of Tony Connelly, he was just on RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland programme a minute ago from Kyiv.

On the question of Russian attacks on civilians, he says it’s hard to say whether they are being deliberately targeted or whether civilian deaths are a case of collateral damage from the aerial attack.

“What we do know is that President Zelensky in his address to the nation this morning put the death toll at 137… that number is likely to rise.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a really notable hardening of the language being used by European Union officials and some of the bloc’s leading figures in recent days.

That continued this morning with Ursula von der Leyen’s tweets. Announcing fresh sanctions, she stated that the invasion marked a “new era” in relations with Russia.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Now, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the EU wants to cut “all links” between Russia and the global financial system, AFP reports.

More to follow on that shortly. 

Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne is the first Government representative out this morning.

He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that Ireland pushed for the broadest possible EU sanctions against Russia.

The Minister of State for European Affairs also said that the agreed sanctions are very comprehensive and were agreed quickly at last night’s meeting.

There has been some criticism that the EU should have barred Russia from using the SWIFT messaging system used to move money around the world.

Penalising this would hinder Russia’s ability to profit from the international energy market.

But the EU did not include this sanction, and Byrne said there wasn’t unanimity on this at an EU level. He said the Irish government has “no difficulty” with the SWIFT system being sanctioned.

More on the impact of the Russian attack on Ukrainian citizens.

BBC is quoting an official at Ukraine’s interior ministry as saying that Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Russia has responded to sanctions imposed by the UK government – specifically, the banning of Russian planes, including the county’s main carrier Aeroflot, from the United Kingdom.

The Russian Aviation Authority has hit back with an announcement that “aircraft owned, leased or operated by a person associated with the UK or registered in the UK” are now likewise banned from Russian airspace.

The ban includes transit flights through Russia’s airspace – so the move doesn’t just impact UK planes that are due to land in Russia. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to the EU’s sanctions on Russia.

In a tweet a few minutes ago, he expressed his gratitude to the EU for financial assistance, but called for more sanctions:

Not all possibilities for sanctions have been exhausted yet. The pressure on Russia must increase. Said this to @Vonderleyen. I am grateful to the President for her decision on additional financial assistance.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 25, 2022

Remember yesterday’s story about fighting near the Chernobyl nuclear plant?

In another development on that story, Ukraine’s nuclear energy regulatory agency is reporting higher than usual levels of gamma radiation – the kind that can pass through human bodies and destroy tissue and DNA – in the area near the decommissioned plant.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate did not provide details of the increase, but attributed the rise to a “disturbance of the topsoil due to the movement of a large amount of heavy military equipment through the exclusion zone and the release of contaminated radioactive dust into the air”.

The plant and the surrounding area was seized by Russian forces yesterday.

In a sign of increasing desperation, the Ukrainian army has tweeted a call for more recruits this morning – saying that they will take anyone regardless of their age:

✅Офіційна заява Командувача Сил ТрО Юрія Галушкіна:

‼️Сьогодні Україні потрібні всі. Всі процедури приєднання до ТрО спрощені. З собою мати лише паспорт та ідентифікаційний код. Вікових обмежень немає.

Якщо у вас на місцях будуть проблеми, посилайтесь на цю офіційну заяву.

— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 25, 2022

Some pretty incredible images emerging of a plane that’s been shot down over Kyiv. It’s not quite clear which side the aircraft belonged to.

Oleksandr Ratushniak / PA Oleksandr Ratushniak / PA / PA

Ukrainian firefighters look at fragments of a downed aircraft in Kyiv Oleksandr Ratushniak / PA Oleksandr Ratushniak / PA / PA

UEFA have just confirmed that the Champions League final, originally due to be held in Russia, will be moved.

The Stade de France in Paris will now host the game on 28 May.

More on that story about the movement of the Champions League final away from Russia.

UEFA’s have also announced that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.

As well as the wider implications for UEFA’s competitions, this could also have a knock-on impact for Ireland, who are due to play a Nations League fixture in Kyiv on 4 June.

The Football Association of Ireland issued a statement yesterday saying that it would “continue to communicate on an ongoing basis” with the Irish Government, UEFA and Ukraine’s football association about the latest developments.

In its statement, UEFA’s Executive Committee also said it would remain on standby to convene further extraordinary meetings to reassess how the situation in Ukraine impacts football as required.

Our colleagues at The42 have the full story here.

Exactly what level of domestic support President Vladimir Putin enjoys for his war in Ukraine has been hotly debated in recent days.

What we do know is that 1,800 anti-war protestors were arrested in Russia last night, a crackdown on dissent that has been condemned by the United Nations this morning, AFP reports.

“Arresting individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression or a peaceful assembly constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters, calling for “the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained”. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also appealed to ordinary Russians to “fight against the war”.

Zelensky to Russians: "To the citizens of Russia coming out to protest, we see you. This means that you have heard us. This means that you believe us. Fight for us. Fight against war."
At least 1,817 were detained last night in anti-war protests in Russia according to @OvdInfo

— Ola Cichowlas (@olacicho) February 25, 2022

Sanctions, sanctions and more sanctions…

European Council President Charles Michel has just announced that a further package of punitive measures is being prepared by the bloc.

The senseless suffering and loss of civilian life must stop.

Europe stands with #Ukraine’s people and will continue to provide support.

Second wave of sanctions with massive and severe consequences politically agreed last night.

Further package under urgent preparation.

— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) February 25, 2022

It follows the second wave of European sanctions announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late last night.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is talking to reporters in Moscow at the moment and details are just beginning to filter through.

He claims it’s not Russia’s intention to occupy Ukraine, according to Russian state-owned media reports.

"No one is planning to occupy Ukraine, Lavrov says" https://t.co/dB4s0me7NG

— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) February 25, 2022

Lavrov said Russia wants to “free Ukraine from oppression”, AFP reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “took the decision to conduct a special military operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine so that, freed from oppression, Ukrainians themselves could freely determine their future”, Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.

More from Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s press conference in Moscow.

He said that the Kremlin was ready for talks with Kyiv if the Ukrainian army surrendered, as Russian invading forces advanced on the capital.

“We are ready for negotiations at any moment, as soon as the armed forces of Ukraine respond to our call and lay down their arms,” Lavrov said, according to AFP.

Following a plea from Ukrainian President Zelensky yesterday, crowds are continuing to line up to donate blood across the country:

The donor queue at the blood transfusion point in Dnipro, eastern #Ukraine.
The brave and courageous Ukrainians are standing. pic.twitter.com/JrJpQtaZ5P

— Alexander Khrebet/Олександр Хребет (@AlexKhrebet) February 25, 2022

Across Ukraine, people are lining up to donate blood. Pictured here, the wait to give blood in Lviv. (Photo: Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP) pic.twitter.com/vvQNEbHs8b

— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) February 25, 2022

Many citizens in Ukrainian cities have moved to makeshift bomb shelters in basements and train stations.

In Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine where much of the fighting has been focused, healthcare workers at a children’s hospital had to move newborn infants from the neonatal intensive care unit to a lower level of the building last night:

Newborn infants from the neonatal intensive care unit at a children’s hospital in Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, were moved into a makeshift bomb shelter on a lower level of the building on Thursday. https://t.co/l8RAcFMTud pic.twitter.com/kWud9ktt2P

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 25, 2022

Speaking to CNN today from the streets of Kyiv, former president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said President Putin has declared war on all of us.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko now on CNN live from the streets of Kyiv, just a few km from where he says there is fighting.

His message?

"Putin declared a war to the whole world, every single person who is watching right now CNN." pic.twitter.com/B0pDVnj5CT

— Nora Neus (@noraneus) February 25, 2022

He said just two or three kilometres from where he was standing Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian troops as they attempt to hold onto the country’s capital.

“We shall deal with Putin like a man of lost reason, he’s just simply mad,” he said.

Reports are coming in about fighting on the outskirts of Kyiv. 

AFP, reports pedestrians ran for safety as small arms fire and explosions erupted in the Obolonsky district in the city’s north.

Larger blasts could be heard in the city centre, where residents endured a first tense night under curfew and the sounds of bombing.

In one residential neighbourhood medics rushed to help a man who had been driving a civilian car that was completely crushed under the tracks of an armoured vehicle.

Resident Viktor Berbash, 58, told AFP he ran out to his balcony after he heard shooting this morning.

“I saw an armoured vehicle and there was automatic fire. And here this car, with probably an anti-aircraft gun on it, was already here.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just called on Europeans with “combat experience” to fight for Ukraine as invading Russian forces threatened Kyiv.

“If you have combat experience in Europe and do not want to look at the indecision of politicians, you can come to our country and join us in defending Europe, where it is very necessary now,” Zelensky said in a statement put out by his press office.

Zelensky said the West was in no hurry to help Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

How are you going to defend yourself when you are so slowly helping us in Ukraine? State institutions in Europe are not in a hurry with really strong decisions.

To the country’s own troops his message was: “Hold our ground, you are all that we have.”

Zelensky also this morning took aim at Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, criticising him for comments he made in relation to a phone meeting Zelensky missed with the Italian leader.

The Ukrainian president said after heavy fighting at the entrances to a number of hotels people had died. 

Italian PM Draghi: “President Zelenskyi told us that he is hiding somewhere and that Ukraine has no more time.
He was supposed to attend a phone call at 9.30am but he couldn’t make it”

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 25, 2022

Italian PM Draghi: “President Zelenskyi told us that he is hiding somewhere and that Ukraine has no more time.
He was supposed to attend a phone call at 9.30am but he couldn’t make it”

— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) February 25, 2022

As Russian forces move closer to the centre of Kyiv, Ukrainian troops are preparing to defend the city.

AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

Pope Francis has added made his stance on Russia’s actions clear today.

PA reports he paid a visit to the Russian embassy in Rome today in a papal gesture that has no recent precedent.

Popes usually receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican. 

Spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed the pontiff wanted “clearly to express his concern about the war”.

Francis was there for just over half an hour, Bruni added.

The Pope has called for dialogue to end the conflict and has urged the faithful to set next Wednesday as a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Ukraine.

However has refrained from publicly criticising Russia, presumably for fear of antagonising the Russian Orthodox Church, with which he is trying to build stronger ties.

The centre of Kyiv is almost completely deserted and silent other than the occasional sound of air raid sirens:

Formula One bosses have in the last hour announced the cancellation of the Russian Grad Prix. 

The race in Sochi was due to take place on 25 September, but it has now been scrapped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

F1’s announcement arrived two hours after Uefa confirmed this season’s Champions League final will be moved from St Petersburg to Paris.

The Russian military says it has captured the Gostomel (Hostomel) Airport, which has been a site of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

The airport is in a northwestern suburb of Kyiv.

A spokesperson for Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin is ready to send a delegation for talks with Ukraine.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader is “ready” to send a high-level delegation “for talks with a Ukrainian delegation” to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, which has hosted peace talks and agreements in the past.

Putin announcing the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday morning Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Tony Connelly, RTÉ’s Europe Editor in Kyiv, has put together an account of the “tense situation” in the country’s capital city.

He writes that the streets are quieter today than yesterday, but some people are still moving around with suitcases as they try to find somewhere safe to stay. 

It was a fairly disruptive night last night. There were air raid sirens throughout the night, missile strikes on various locations inside the capital.

“I spoke to one family who were trying to come to terms, who said they didn’t sleep last night. They were tired, and said they needed to stay strong as things were just beginning,” Connelly says.

Back in Ireland, Cork City Council has raised the Ukrainian flag over Cork City Hall.

“The people of Cork stand in solidarity with Ukraine and with the Ukrainian community here in Cork and Ireland.”

AFP is reporting that the EU has agreed to freeze Putin’s assets in an escalation of sanctions.

The bloc will also freeze the assets of Sergey Lavrov, the country’s Foreign Minister.

It’s a step up from the sanctions announced yesterday, which had not personally targeted Russia’s president

One big question about sanctions is whether Russia will be cut off from Swift, a system for moving money around the world.

The US and EU have not included that measure in their sanctions so far.

The Journal reporter Rónán Duffy has taken a look at what Swift is, whether Russian banks could be locked out from it, and what kind of impacts it could have.

Here are some fast facts:

• Swift stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
• It’s essentially a messaging system developed in the 1970s to allow banks to communicate securely and make international payments
• More than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries use it
• In November 2019, Swift “suspended” access to its network by certain Iranian banks after the US imposed sanctions on Iran
• Cutting Russian banks from Swift wouldn’t directly stop them being able to transfer money but it would still have a large impact
• There’s an ongoing dispute over collateral damage it could cause for other countries

The Helix has cancelled tonight’s performance of Swan Lake by the Royal Moscow Ballet.

It says it is “crucial” that countries around the world “send an unambiguous message to the Russian Government that their deplorable actions have consequences that will have impact across political, economic, sporting and cultural spheres at all levels”.

The theatre is refunding customers who were due to attend the show this evening.

The Washington Post has now verified the authenticity of a video clip you may have seen being shared on social media.

In the footage of Ukraine’s Snake Island, a voice can be heard stating:

“I am a Russian warship, I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths”.

The reply from the Ukrainian Border Guards can then be heard: “Russian warship, go f**k yourself.”

Russian forces opened fire on the island, killing all 13 Ukrainian border guards.

A group of Ukrainian border guards were stationed on Snake Island, in the Black Sea south of Odessa, when a Russian warship ordered them to surrender under threat of attack.

Their response: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

They held their ground. All 13 were killed. pic.twitter.com/GMRsXQRSX0

— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 25, 2022

Residents of Kyiv have been living the city in their masses, either heading to the west of the country or over the border to Romania or Poland:

Several people told me, that evacuation trains are going from Kyiv’s main station to Lviv. There are no tickets required but there are a lot of people. The video is from a friend of mine. The train left at 10:45 am #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/sYABelCqck

— Mattia Nelles (@mattia_n) February 25, 2022

This Ukrainian war veteran left Poland, where he was living, leaving behind his family, to join the fight in his home country. 

He told Reuters: “I hope to come back to my family. If I don’t make it back, I hope everything will be alright.”

Dmytro Dovzhenko, a Ukrainian war veteran living in Poland, has re-enlisted after Russia launched a full-scale military attack on his home country. Crossing back into Ukraine from near Korczowa, Poland, he said he hoped ‘Russia would be destroyed’ https://t.co/bfj73jownP pic.twitter.com/KG22PX48ZR

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 25, 2022

RTÉ’s Tony Connolly is still in Ukraine, now on his way out of Kyiv. He’s been reporting long queues of cars on the roads, slowing making their way out. 

A young mother uses a coffee machine to get formula milk for her child, approx 52km on the road from Kyiv to Lviv, at a packed service station. Some people are on foot. It’s 419km to Lviv… pic.twitter.com/YTvStf1yBp

— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) February 25, 2022

Ukrainian authorities have said that radiation levels had increased in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and warned the seizure of the nuclear plant by invading Russian troops could have “terrible consequences.”

Experts have said that, while this is concerning, it is highly unlikely that this change will make people sick:

Will this exceed pollution limits, public health limits, and occupational limits? Likely. Will it last long? Likely not. Will it make anyone sick? Highly unlikely.

— Dan Kaszeta (@DanKaszeta) February 25, 2022