Having warned of Putin’s plans for days, the US and Europe seem unsure now of their next move.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned the “brutal invasion” and promised further sanctions on 300 members of the Russian parliament who supported Mr Putin.

The best interpretation of Putin is that “special military operation” means taking out Ukraine’s military defences, rather than occupying the country. Few believe this.

The world is watching as Russian President Vladimir Putin crosses the border into disputed Ukrainian territory.

The Russian President says the goal of the military action is to “protect people who have been abused by the genocide of the Kyiv regime for eight years” and to “strive for the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine”.

Even as the world’s most senior envoys gathered at the UN Security Council to plead for peace, Vladimir Putin was going on Russian state television to declare war.

Sanctions against Russia will intensify, with world leaders urging Russia to withdraw troops and warning that the world will respond in a “united and decisive way”.

Russia has confirmed it is targeting military facilities across the country, including airfields and anti-aircraft systems.

This is an event of global significance and shows that democratic governments cannot discount the old nightmare of military aggression.

The dawn attack appears to be massive in scale, hitting the capital Kyiv and other major cities. Here’s a quick guide to what we know so far.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country “was left no chance to protect itself by other means” when he decided to declare war on Ukraine on Thursday. Here’s a timeline of the key moments that led to that decision.

Could this expat Australian MP be responsible for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s potential downfall?

Scientists say well-preserved fish fossils are providing a deeper understanding of one of the worst days in the history of life on Earth.

City leader Carrie Lam used emergency powers granted under British colonial-era laws to exempt mainland Chinese staff and projects from legal requirements to operate in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of thousands of children are in need of protection and assistance in eastern Ukraine. Yet the attention of the world in recent weeks hasn’t necessarily translated into commitments to help these children.

Police are reluctant to bring up old memories with heavy-handed tactics, but allowing the encampment protest to bubble has given rise to talk of holding the line “until the end” and even “bloodshed”.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia reserves the right to take further action against Russia.

What people thought would be an occupation of the breakaway territories of Donetsk and Luhansk has become a full-scale war across the Ukraine.

Harry is suing The Mail on Sunday over an article published on February 20 alleging that he sought a confidentiality order.

Two months after a new Manhattan District Attorney took over the case, the two prosecutors leading the investigation have suddenly resigned.

The bloc includes a state television presenter, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman and the head of Kremlin-backed media outlet RT.

Since seizing Crimea in 2014, Putin’s Russia has sought to sanctions-proof its economy. While it is not immune, it does mean that sanctions must now be much harsher to seriously damage Russia.

By virtue of geography, culture and politics, Ukraine lies squarely between Russia and the West. These maps explain why it’s so important to Vladimir Putin.

The pharmaceutical giants say their new, two-dose vaccine against COVID-19 is 100 per cent effective against severe disease and hospitalisation.

Paul Keating managed to upset more than just the British tabloids during the Queen’s tour.

Australians who seek surrogates in Ukraine have struggled to conceive for years. Now they face another nightmare as the country faces a Russian invasion.

Western leaders, including Morrison, announced a first tranche of sanctions against Russia in the hopes of deterring Putin from going further.

Australia joins in imposing sanctions on Russia. US and EU sanctions were earlier slapped on Russian banks, businesses, projects and “elites”.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

Everything the Russian President presents to the world is about image – and his messages aren’t subtle. Sometimes it’s in the little details, sometimes it’s his massive table: every image tells us a little more about his grip on power.

Omicron arrived in Cuba in December but fell far short of the pronounced spike in cases of other countries. COVID infections have since dropped by more than 80 per cent.

Western nations are responding amid rising tensions over Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s incursions into Ukraine. Follow our live coverage.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the decision to impose measures, including travel bans, will mean Australia is in “lock step” with the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Everyone understands that a war has already been declared,” said Voloymyr Chistilin, in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. “And this is a critical, decisive moment.”

A quick guide to the latest twists in the Ukraine crisis.

The Queen was not feeling up to the planned video calls, which require in-depth knowledge of global affairs across countless sectors.

How do you negotiate with an aggrieved strongman who isn’t acting rationally?

The three white men convicted of chasing down and murdering a young black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was out jogging in the US, were found guilty of committing hate crimes.

The city will test its entire population of 7.5 million people for COVID-19 in March as it grapples with its worst outbreak driven by the Omicron variant.

Australians directed to leave Ukraine immediately as Russian tanks roll into the breakaway territories.

The country is stuck in a never-ending cycle of corruption and his brother, former PM Saad Hariri, has announced he is bowing out of politics.

Western governments, including Australia’s, are huffing and puffing and imposing sanctions on Russia. But no one is stopping it.

The decision, in 1998, to expand NATO into central and eastern Europe was designed to kick Russia when it was weak. Instead, it fuelled Putin’s nationalistic fires.

As a misreading of history, the claim that Ukraine was invented by Lenin was extreme even by the standards of Putin.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Russia said it would not accept “a new bloodbath” in the Donbas.

Human rights activists say the women were forced to make the declarations.

The best photos from the international wire agencies as chosen by our picture editors

A fourth dose of a COVID vaccine may be unnecessary for most people, say a flurry of new studies.

An official study found a modified scooter crossing the French capital at night can wake as many as 10,000 people.