The invasion of Ukraine will lead to a painful, cruel and bloody affair, said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reports The Independent.

The intelligence around the situation is bleak, he said, but war is not inevitable. He urged Russia to abandon the catastrophic step.

"I think it's very important that people in Russia understand that this could be a new Chechnya," he noted.

Some employees of the British embassy are taken out of Kyiv. The Foreign Office confirmed the move after the U.S. ordered the families of all U.S. personnel at the U.S. embassy to leave the country due to the risk of invasion.