Thursday evening UK news briefing: Today's top headlines from The Telegraph

Your evening briefing from The Telegraph

Your evening briefing from The Telegraph

After months of speculation, Vladimir Putin, the increasingly deranged dictator of one of the world’s great nuclear powers, has struck.

What threatens to be the most destructive war fought in Europe since 1945 has begun; the worst fears of the West realised.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukranian president, was unequivocal about the Russian invasion of his country today, as he said “this is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe”.

He said Russian troops are attempting to seize the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Russia claims it has destroyed “over 70 military targets”, including 11 airfields.

As these shocking pictures illustrate, civilian casualties were reported hours after the full-scale invasion was launched, moments after Putin declared war on TV just before 3am GMT.

Russia activated sleeper cells or commando units to carry out attacks on Ukrainian positions deep behind the front lines in the early hours of the morning, soldiers told the Telegraph.

Chief Reporter Robert Mendick writes of a blood-drenched dawn, with the story of how Putin launched his morning attack.

As the invasion continues, you can track in this free article all the areas hit in Ukraine by the Russian military with this map.

The early-morning assault has already sparked an exodus from Kyiv, amid fears Europe is set for its worst refugee crisis in decades.

Long lines have formed outside petrol stations and at shops and ATM machines.

In a chilling warning, Putin appeared to threaten nuclear strikes if any country tried to attack Russia in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president said the “consequences” of any attempt to strike back would provoke a response “never seen in history”.

How did things get to this point? Roland Oliphant analyses why Putin has chosen to invade Ukraine now.

‘Most severe’ sanctions

In response, Boris Johnson has announced in Parliament this evening “the largest and most severe package of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen” to punish Putin for his invasion.

He told the Commons that the G7 had agreed to maximise the economic price that Putin will pay for his aggression, including Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas.

In an address to the nation this afternoon, the Prime Minister suggested the Russian invasion may have to be stopped “militarily”. Read what he said in full.

Joe Biden was under fire in the wake of the invasion as he was accused by political opponents of having emboldened Putin.

For weeks Republicans had pressured the Democrat president to act pre-emptively and impose the full panoply of sanctions available to him.

Mr Biden will address the world imminently. Watch his speech here.

Home front

In Britain, almost 2,000 miles away from the action in Ukraine, it is easy to feel complacent about how war could affect our lives.

But experts say that war between Russia and Ukraine will change everyday life in the UK in ways most people have not yet fully understood.

From mortgage-rate rises to bigger grocery bills, and cyber attacks to a new age of nuclear anxiety, here’s how Putin’s invasion could echo around the streets of Britain.

The owner of British Gas has sought to reassure customers that the lights will stay on and there will be no immediate impact on energy bills.

Read a guide to how to protect your money and investments from the fallout and read why British house prices will suffer side effects.

Invasion of Ukraine: Comment and analysis

Sport briefing: Pressure to move events from Russia

Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have called on Formula One to abandon the Russian Grand Prix following the invasion of Ukraine, as drivers committed to a boycott of this year’s race in Sochi. Sports governing bodies have been rapidly scrambling to address any events taking part in the region. Uefa announced that it will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow morning where it is expected to strip St Petersburg of this season’s Champions League final, due to take place at the Gazprom Stadium in May. It comes as Labour MP Chris Bryant told Parliament that Roman Abramovich should not be allowed to own Chelsea on the basis of a document he had obtained. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Ukraine player Oleksandr Zinchenko responded to the Russian invasion of his homeland with a blazing verbal assault on President Putin.

Business briefing: Global stock markets hammered

Wall Street and the FTSE 100 plummeted as part of a global stock market sell-off today, with the technology-focused Nasdaq falling into correction territory following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The FTSE 100 saw its biggest one-day fall since June 2020 as investors reacted to the full-scale invasion, wiping £77 billion off the value of the UK’s 100 biggest listed companies. Sterling plunged 1.5pc against the dollar to $1.3348, putting it on track for its worst day since the Bank of England’s shock decision to hold interest rates in November. Meanwhile, the head of the AA has warned that petrol prices are set to soar even higher as the price of oil surged above $105 per barrel for the first time in eight years.

Evening briefing: Today’s other essential headlines

Thursday interview

‘I got vile abuse in Wales – but I regret nothing’

Wales-born Dewi Morris has no regrets about playing 26 times for England - PAUL COOPER

Wales-born Dewi Morris has no regrets about playing 26 times for England – PAUL COOPER

Dewi Morris was not forgiven by some for rejecting ‘the land of his father’ to run out in an England shirt at Cardiff in 1989. The former England scrum-half talks to Gavin Mairs ahead of the two nations’ Six Nations clash, where history is repeating itself

Read the full interview

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Tonight starts now

Robot narrates its life-story – and starts to die | At the Battersea Arts Centre, each evening this week, the German novelist and playwright Thomas Melle delivers a thoughtful autobiographical talk that weaves together his struggles with social anxiety and manic-depressive cycles, the possibilities of robotics, and the life of Alan Turing. It is exactly the same lecture every night because Melle has not bothered to turn up: he’s delegated the job to his robot doppelgänger. Tristram Fane Saunders reviews how an air of anti-climax is part of the point of the show.

Three things for you

And finally… for this evening’s downtime

Louder, faster, funnier | As the giants of metal fell, scrappy working-class upstarts named Venom, Saxon or Samson filled the void. Read how the New Wave of British Heavy Metal saved rock.

source: yahoo.com