NATO has ordered commanders to be ready to defend allied land after Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine.
The alliance has previously ruled out military action as Ukraine is not a member, instead vowing to unleash an unprecedented package of sanctions.
But ‘graduated response plans’ were activated amid fears Vladimir Putin may be looking to go one step further and even piece back together the Soviet Union.
Hundreds of warplanes and ships have been placed on alert, while troop numbers on Nato’s eastern flank have been bolstered as a precaution.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said ‘peace on our continent has been shattered’ as Russian troops targeted Ukraine by land and, air and sea this morning.
But he added that there were no NATO troops in the country, saying: ‘What we do is defensive.’
Combat units are likely to be created in Romania and Bulgaria, and potentially Hungary and Slovakia.
‘Russia is using force to try to rewrite history, and deny Ukraine its free and independent path’, Mr Stoltenberg said. ‘This is a deliberate, cold-blooded and long-planned invasion.’
In a chilling message to the West this morning, Putin said anyone who tried to interfere with his invasion of Ukraine ‘will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history.’