The first sign an invasion was imminent came at just before 12am Ukrainian time (10pm in the UK), when Russian-backed rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine issued a request for military assistance from Moscow in what is being widely seen as a ‚False Flag‘ operation to justify Putin‘s decision to attack.

Moments later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a defiant message to the nation, vowing his countrymen would ‚fight back‘ in the event of an invasion, telling Moscow: ‚When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.‘

A frenzied string of diplomatic manoeuvres, including an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York, were not enough to dissuade Putin, who declared a ‚special military operation‘ at around 3am Ukraine time.