Britain announced sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the military operation in Ukraine, RIA Novosti reported.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that sanctions have been imposed on Aeroflot's operations in the UK. He also said the UK was freezing VTB's assets.

Sanctions have also been imposed on Uralvagonzavod, Rostec and the Tactical Missiles Corporation.

Johnson added that the available levers allow for complete exclusion of Russian banks from the UK financial system.

The UK Prime Minister also promised to "squeeze Russia out of the global economy".

In addition, sanctions have been imposed on Russian billionaire Kirill Shamalov, the chairman of Promsvyazbank, Petr Fradkov and the deputy president-chairman of VTB, Denis Bortnikov.

On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a military operation in Ukraine.  He said that Moscow did not intend to occupy the Ukrainian territories. According to the Russian president, the goal is to demilitarize and denationalize Ukraine.

Later, the Russian Defence Ministry informed about missile strikes against the Ukrainian military infrastructure. In particular, it spoke about spot strikes on airfields and command posts near Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed martial law. He said he would break off diplomatic relations with Russia.  Ukraine has also closed its airspace.