Putin paves way to invade after formally recognising rebel-held territories in eastern Ukraine as independent states to let him send in troops to ‘defend them’ – as tanks in 'battle formation' are spotted less than three miles from border

Vladimir Putin will recognise Ukraine's eastern regions as independent states and sign a degree shortly - a move that will pave the way for a long-feared Russian invasion of country.

Recognising the rebel regions' independence effectively shatters the Minsk peace agreements and opens the door for Russia to sign treaties with the 'states' and openly send troops and weapons there to defend them against Ukrainian 'threats'.The move fuels further tension with the West and narrows the diplomatic options available to avoid war, since it is an explicit rejection of a seven-year-old ceasefire mediated by France and Germany, still touted as the framework for any future negotiations on the wider crisis.

The Kremlin said that upon hearing that Putin will sign the order to recognise the independence of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had 'expressed disappointment' over the decision in phone calls with the Russian President.

Earlier, Putin vowed to decide 'today' whether to recognise Ukraine's eastern regions as independent states. He made the remark at the end of an hours-long security council meeting that was broadcast on Russian TV during which the country's top security officials were called up one by one and asked to lay out the case for war - seemingly aimed at persuading a skeptical public of the need to attack.

Having spent days staging what are widely believed to be false flag attacks on Ukrainian soil and blaming them on Kiev, ministers presented the 'evidence' to Putin today: Claiming Russians in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions are under threat of 'genocide', that no peace deal can save them, and that he must intervene to save lives.

But in evidence that the entire spectacle was being staged - with the West warning a decision to invade has already been made - eagle-eyed viewers noticed that defence minister Sergei Shoigu's watch was five hours behind Moscow time, suggesting the hearing was pre-recorded.

All eyes will now turn to Ukraine's border regions for evidence that Russian troops have crossed, after videos published earlier in the day showed tanks and armoured vehicles in 'battle formations' - some of them less than three miles from the frontier.

Dymtro Kuleba, Ukraine's defence minister, said after the council meeting that 'the entire world' will watch what Russia does next and that 'everyone realises the consequences' if Putin vows to recognise the breakaway regions. 'We all should calmly focus on de-escalation efforts, [there is] no other way,' he tweeted.

It comes as two Ukrainian soldiers died on Monday and three were wounded in a shelling attack in Zaitseve, a village 18 miles north of the rebel stronghold Donetsk, Ukraine's national police said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had a phone call with Putin this evening, warned him that recognising the eastern regions would be a 'one-sided' breach of peace negotiations and that he has a 'responsibility' to de-escalate tensions by removing troops from the border.

Meanwhile Joe Biden said he would meet with his own national security team to discuss the situation, having been rebuffed earlier in the day over a summit with Putin. France claimed to have brokered a meeting between the two men next week, which the White House agreed to, before the Kremlin said no 'concrete' plans had been made.

It is the second time that Emmanuel Macron, who has tried to position himself as Europe's top security negotiator, has been embarrassed by Moscow - given guarantees which were revoked when he made them public. Two weeks ago he claimed Putin had agreed to stop military drills on Ukraine's border, which Russia immediately denied.

Elsewhere today...

US officials warned Russian battle plans call for 'overwhelming' fire against Ukraine that could cause 'tens of thousands of casualties' within days of an invasion
US also warned Russia has prepared a hit-list of people it wants to kill or send to detention camps if Ukraine falls, with dissidents, journalists, political figures , ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people all on the list
Fresh explosions were heard in Ukraine's eastern regions with separatist leaders claiming a Ukrainian citizen was killed and that Kiev's troops had crossed the border in armoured vehicles
Russia claimed that a Ukrainian shell hit its territory in the Rostov-on-Don region, destroying an unoccupied guard post. Kiev has strongly denied shelling separatist or Russian positions
Pro-Russian separatists said 60,000 people have now been evacuated from rebel-held areas to Russia
Air France announced it is halting all flights to and from Kiev, following similar move by Germany's Lufthansa

Vladimir Putin today chaired a meeting of Russia's full security council, with top aides getting to their feet one by one to lay out the case for war in Ukraine

Putin has vowed to make a decision today on whether to recognise Ukraine's eastern regions as independent, voiding current ceasefire agreements and paving the way for Russian troops to move in

But in evidence the spectacle was being staged, viewers noticed defence minister Sergei Shoigu's watch was running five hours slow - suggesting the hearing was pre-recorded

Separatist leaders in Ukraine's eastern regions claimed today a Ukrainian shell landed in Russian territory, destroying a guard post that was unmanned at the time

Pro-Kremlin media also broadcast claims that a bomb-carrying saboteur was foiled trying to attack a market, airing graphic images of a severed leg which Ukraine said had been taken from a nearby morgue and used to stage the 'blast'

Russian 'terminator' tanks - armoured vehicles that are designed to support infantry units fighting in urban areas - were spotted being transferred to the frontlines at the weekend

Boris Johnson's spokesman said that it appears Putin's invasion plan has 'already begun' while foreign Secretary Liz Truss, after meeting with NATO, said an invasion appears 'highly likely' but that diplomacy must continue until the last moment.

There are now thought to be 190,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine comprising around three quarters of its conventional forces backed by 500 fighter jets, 50 heavy bombers, and dozens of attack helicopters.

The Kremlin denies it has plans to attack, but Western allies say Putin is trying to concoct a pretext to invade by stirring up conflict in two breakaway eastern regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - and staging 'false flag' attacks to justify marching his troops in on a mission to 'protect' them.

Should Russia go ahead with its attack, the US has warned the UN security council that Moscow has prepared a list of targets for assassination and imprisonment in detention camps.

Officials say the list includes anyone who might oppose the Kremlin - including political figures, journalists, Russian and Belarusian dissidents sheltering in the country, ethnic minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.

'As we've seen in the past, we expect Russia will try to force cooperation through intimidation and repression,' a US official told Foreign Policy magazine on Friday, before a letter containing the allegations was sent to the US on Monday.

'These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions.

'[That] includes Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBT persons.'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the claims an 'absolute lie'.

Heavy shelling was reported along the frontline at the weekend, leaving several Ukrainian troops dead, following what Russian state media claimed were terror attacks targeting top officials and a gas pipeline in the two regions - which the West said was staged.

Fighting continued on Monday, with separatist commanders alleging that artillery had been fired into the Donetsk region and struck a hospital with 'clashes' reported near Mariupol. Russia separately claimed that a Ukrainian shell had blown up a guard post in Rostov-on-Don. Ukraine denies firing at either separatist or Russian territory.

The Kremlin has also been pushing claims that 'mass graves' containing the bodies of civilians killed by Ukrainian troops have been discovered in the region, and today submitted documents containing those allegations to the UN Security Council.

Tens of of thousands of civilians - mostly women, children and the elderly - have now being evacuated from rebel-held areas into Russia due to the 'threat'. Fighting-age men have been ordered to stay behind under the threat of legal sanctions if they try to leave.

In what appeared to be a last-ditch diplomatic gambit brokered with the aid of French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said Biden has agreed 'in principle' to a meeting with Putin as long as he holds off on launching an assault.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration has been clear that 'we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet on Thursday in Europe - as long as Russia does not send its troops into Ukraine beforehand.

'We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war,' Psaki said in statement.

'And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.'

Despite the threat, life in the capital Kiev outwardly continued as usual for many Sunday, with brunches and church services, ahead of what Biden said late last week was an already decided-upon Russian attack.

Katerina Spanchak, who fled a region of eastern Ukraine when it was taken over by Russian-allied separatists, was among worshippers crowded into the capital's St. Michael's monastery, smoky with the candles burned by the faithful, to pray that Ukraine be spared.

Video shows another Russian field hospital established in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, amid fears it marks one of the final preparations for an attack

'We all love life, and we are all united by our love of life,' Spanchak said, pausing to compose herself. 'We should appreciate it every day. That's why I think everything will be fine.'

'Our joint prayers will help to elude this tragedy, which is advancing,' said another worshipper, who identified himself only by his first name, Oleh.

A U.S. official said Sunday that Biden's assertion that Putin has made the decision to roll Russian forces into Ukraine was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.

The United States and many European countries have charged for weeks that Putin has built up the forces he needs to invade Ukraine - a westward-looking democracy that has sought to move out of Russia's orbit - and is now trying to create pretexts to invade.

Western nations have threatened massive sanctions if Putin does.

U.S. officials on Sunday defended their decision to hold off on their planned financial punishments of Russia ahead of any invasion, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called passionately Saturday for the West to do more.

'If you pull the trigger on that deterrent, well then, it doesn't exist anymore as a deterrent,' Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told Fox on Washington's sanctions threat.

Russia held nuclear drills Saturday as well as the conventional exercises in Belarus, and has ongoing naval drills off the coast in the Black Sea.

The announcement that Russia was reversing its pledge to withdraw its forces from Belarus came after two days of sustained shelling along a contact line between Ukraine's soldiers and Russian-allied separatists in eastern Ukraine, an area that Ukraine and the West worry could be the flashpoint in igniting conflict.

Ukrainian tanks take part in training drills at an unknown location somewhere in Ukraine, in an image taken on Sunday but released by the military on Monday

Ukrainian soldiers and helicopters take part in military drills at an unspecified area somewhere in Ukraine on Sunday

A Ukrainian soldier aims a machine-gun mounted on top of an armoured vehicle during training exercises on Sunday

Ukrainian tanks take part in training drills at an unknown location somewhere in Ukraine, in an image taken on Sunday but released by the military on Monday

Ukrainian soldiers and helicopters take part in military drills at an unspecified area somewhere in Ukraine on Sunday

A Ukrainian soldier aims a machine-gun mounted on top of an armoured vehicle during training exercises on Sunday

An image taken from the cockpit of a Ukrainian attack helicopter shows a second helicopter flying in formation during military drills in an undisclosed area of the country on Sunday

A Ukrainian soldier aims his rifle during training exercises somewhere in the country, which took place on Sunday

Canadian military aid arrives at Lviv airport, in the west of Ukraine, late Sunday as the West continues to supply the army with defensive weapons against a Russian attack

Biden convened the National Security Council at the White House on Russia's military buildup around Ukraine. White House officials released no immediate details of their roughly two hours of discussion.

'We're talking about the potential for war in Europe,' U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said earlier Sunday at a security conference in Munich, Germany, that saw urgent consultations among world leaders on the crisis. 'It's been over 70 years, and through those 70 years ... there has been peace and security.'

Zelenskyy on Sunday appealed on Twitter for a cease-fire. Russia has denied plans to invade, but the Kremlin did not respond to Zelenskyy's offer Saturday to meet with Putin.

After a call with Macron, Putin blamed Ukraine - incorrectly, according to observers there - for the escalation of shelling along the contact line and NATO for 'pumping modern weapons and ammunition' into Ukraine.

Macron, a leader in European efforts to broker a peaceful resolution with Russia, also spoke separately to Zelenskyy, to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and to Biden.

Blinken intentionally raised the prospect of a Biden-Putin summit in interviews with U.S. television networks on Sunday, in a bid to keep diplomacy alive, a senior U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. reasoning.

Blinken said that Biden was 'prepared to meet President Putin at any time in any format if that can help prevent a war' and the U.S. official said Macron had then conveyed the offer of talks to Putin - conditioned on Russia not invading - in his phone calls with the Russian leader.

Tensions mounted further, however. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued an advisory urging greater caution by Americans in Russia overall. 'Have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance,' it warned.

Immediate worries focused on eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting the pro-Russia rebels since 2014 in a conflict that has killed some 14,000 people.

In the eastern Ukraine regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, separatist leaders have ordered a full military mobilization and sent more civilians to Russia, which has issued about 700,000 passports to residents of the rebel-held territories. Claims that Russian citizens are being endangered might be used as justification for military action.

Officials in the separatist territories claimed Ukrainian forces launched several artillery attacks over the past day and that two civilians were killed during an unsuccessful assault on a village near the Russian border. Ukraine's military said two soldiers died in firing from the separatist side on Saturday.

'When tension is escalated to the maximum, as it is now, for example, on the line of contact, then any spark, any unplanned incident or any minor planned provocation can lead to irreparable consequences,' Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in an interview that aired Sunday on Russian state television.

Russian attack helicopters are pictured taking part in joint drills in Belarus on Sunday, as the Kremlin announced the drills will not end as expected but will be extended to an unknown date - meaning 30,000 troops remain in the country

Smoke rises into the air after Russian attack helicopters blew up a target on a firing range in Belarus during joint training exercises on Sunday - amid fears of an invasion

Tanks and armoured vehicles of the Russian and Belarusian militaries take part in training exercises at the weekend, shortly before the Kremlin announced the drill will be extended and its forces will remain in the country

Russian and Belarussian machine-gunners take part in joint training exercises in Belarus at the weekend

Russian troop tents and tanks (left and centre) are seen near a forested area of the Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine, on Sunday amid fears the order to attack will be given soon

Russian troops and tanks (left) are shown parked up next to attack helicopters (centre) near the town of Valuyki, Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine

Russian tanks and trucks are seen parked in the tree line of a forest in the Belgorod region of Russia (right) in an apparent attempt to hide them from prying satellites

A satellite image shows additional armor and equipment deployed along a tree line, near Valuyki, Russia

A satellite image shows an overview of a new deployment, east of Valuyki, Russia

On the front lines, Ukrainian soldiers said they were under orders not to return fire. Zahar Leshushun, peering into the distance with a periscope, had followed the news all day from a trench where he is posted near the town of Zolote.

'Right now, we don't respond to their fire because ...' the soldier said before the sound of an incoming shell interrupted him. 'Oh! They are shooting at us now. They are aiming at the command post.'

On Friday, separatist officials announced the evacuation of civilians and military mobilization in the face of what they described as an imminent Ukrainian offensive on the rebel regions. Ukrainian officials have strongly denied any plans to launch such an attack and described the evacuation order as part of Russian provocations intended to set the stage for an invasion.

The separatist authorities said Monday that at least four civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling over the past 24 hours and several others were injured. Ukraine's military said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the weekend, and another serviceman was wounded Monday.

Ukrainian military spokesman Pavlo Kovalchyuk said the Ukrainian positions were shelled 80 times Sunday and eight times early Monday, noting that the separatists were 'cynically firing from residential areas using civilians as shields.' He insisted that Ukrainian forces weren't returning fire.

In the village of Novognativka on the government-controlled side, 60-year-old Ekaterina Evseeva, said the shelling was worse than at the height of fighting early in the conflict.

'It's worse than 2014,' she said, her voice trembling. 'We are on the edge of nervous breakdowns. And there is nowhere to run.'

Evseeva said that residents were hunkering down in basements amid the renewed fighting: 'Yesterday I saw my neighbor with her 2-month-old as she was running to the basement. It shouldn't be like this.'

Russian troops and tanks are spotted in a forest area near civilian buildings (bottom left) near Belgorod, just a short distance from the border with Ukraine

Russian military vehicles are spotted formed up into a convoy and heading south next to a highway and near a forest in Soloti, around 10 miles from the Ukraine border

Satellite images reveal Russian tanks and armoured vehicles are now being concealed within civilian areas and forests close to the border, such as these vehicles on farmland near Soloti

Ukrainian troops near the frontlines with pro-Russian separatist forces train using a British NLAW anti-tank missile launcher

A Ukrainian soldier inspects a rocket-propelled grenade in Novognativka village, near the frontlines with pro-Russia separatists, as fighting in the region escalates

Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces walk along tranches on their position on the front line with Russia backed separatists, near Novognativka

Moscow denies any plans to invade Ukraine, but wants Western guarantees that NATO won't allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members. It also urges the alliance to halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe - demands flatly rejected by the West.

Russian officials have shrugged off Western calls to deescalate by pulling back troops, arguing that Moscow is free to deploy troops and conduct drills wherever it likes on its territory. Last week, Western officials dismissed Russian statements about some of the troops returning to their bases, saying that Moscow was actually beefing up its forces around Ukraine.

A U.S. official said Sunday that Biden's assertion last week that Putin has made the decision to roll Russian forces into Ukraine was based on intelligence that Russian front-line commanders have been given orders to begin final preparations for an attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive intelligence.

Russia also upped the ante Saturday with sweeping nuclear drills that included multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that Putin personally oversaw.

Ukraine's president reaffirmed his call for a quick meeting with Putin to help defuse tensions, but there was no response from the Kremlin.

The European Union's top diplomat, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, welcomed the prospect of a Biden-Putin summit but said that should diplomacy fail the 27-nation bloc has finalized its package of sanctions for use if Putin orders an invasion.

'The work is done. We are ready,' said Borrell, who is chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers and was tasked with drawing up a list of people in Russia to be hit with asset freezes and travel bans. He provided no details about who might be targeted.

The European Commission has prepared other sanctions to 'limit the access to financial markets for the Russian economy and (impose) export controls that will stop the possibility for Russia to modernize and diversify its economy,' its president, Ursula von der Leyen, said over the weekend.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed Macron's summit initiative and warned Russia against any false flag action to provoke hostilities. 'I appeal urgently to the Russian government, to the Russian president: Don't play with human lives,' she said as she arrived at the EU top diplomats' meeting.Putin 'does not pay attention' to Western predictions of invasionFSB allege Ukrainian projectile hit Russian outpost 150m from border