BORIS Johnson has announced the UK’s ‘first barrage’ of sanctions against Russia as tensions in Ukraine grow.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already begun, a cabinet minister said as Boris Johnson led a crisis meeting of ministers and senior officials to consider the response to Vladimir Putin’s actions.

At the 0630 meeting of the Cobra committee the Prime Minister was briefed on the latest intelligence after Mr Putin ordered his troops to carry out “peacekeeping” duties in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The Prime Minister addressed MPs and the nation in Commons today after warning Putin has “gravely miscalculated” the situation.

Mr Johnson slapped sanctions on Russia as the Foreign Office summoned the Russian ambassador for a meeting on Tuesday amid the crisis in Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Russia’s ambassador Andrei Kelin had been summoned “to explain Russia’s violation of international law and disregard of Ukraine’s sovereignty”.

“We are imposing severe sanctions in response,” she added.

Mr Kelin was meeting the senior official at the Foreign Office, permanent under-secretary Sir Philip Barton.

Boris Johnson accuses Putin of establishing pretext for full-scale offensive

The Prime Minister warned we must "brace ourselves" for Russia's next move after it "flagrantly violated" peace agreements.

He told the House of Commons that Russia's latest "peacekeeping" move "amounts to a renewed invasion of that country".

Mr Johnson said Russian tanks and armed personnel carriers have “since been spotted” in the breakaway regions, adding: “The House should be in no doubt that the deployment of these forces in sovereign Ukrainian territory amounts to a renewed invasion of that country.

“And by denying Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state and presenting its very existence as a mortal threat to Russia, Putin is establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive.”

Boris Johnson announces sanctions on five Russian banks

Boris Johnson has announced sanctions against five Russian banks and three “very high net wealth” individuals under his “first barrage” of measures over the Ukrainian incursion.

Using "new and unprecedented" powers the PM imposed pre-prepared sanctions on Russia.

He announces sanctions on five Russian banks: Rossiayaz Bank, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea Bank. 

44 million men, women and children at risk

Boris Johnson told MPs: “If the worst happens then a European nation of 44 million men, women and children would become the target of a full-scale war of aggression waged without a shred of justification for the absurd and even mystical reasons that Putin described last night.”