Russian flights banned from UK by Grant Shapps 'effective immediately'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he has extended a flight ban meaning “no Russian private jet can fly in UK airspace, or touchdown – effective immediately”.

This comes as President Putin's troops advance deep into Ukraine.

Russian forces have now entered northern districts of the capital Kyiv, and US officials fear the city could fall into Putin's hands within days.

The UK will “imminently” level personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Boris Johnson has announced.

The Prime Minister told Nato leaders in a virtual meeting on Friday that the UK would echo measures announced by the EU to target the Russian leader.

President Joe Biden later announced that the US was freezing the assets of Mr Putin and Mr Lavrov.

Referring to Mr Putin’s wish to recover territory which previously fell under the USSR, Mr Johnson said Russia was “engaging in a revanchist mission to overturn the post-Cold War order”.

Mr Johnson told allies “the UK would introduce sanctions against President Putin and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov imminently, on top of the sanctions package the UK announced yesterday”, according to a No 10 spokesman.

“He warned the group that the Russian president’s ambitions might not stop there and that this was a Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences,” he said.

The Prime Minister also used the meeting to urge “immediate action” over the banning of Russia from the Swift payment system to “inflict maximum pain” on the Kremlin.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced he is extending a ban on Aeroflot flights landing in the UK to cover Russian private jets.

The move to sanction President Putin and Mr Lavrov comes after the European Union announced it was considering a similar move against the two men as it set out its latest round of measures in concert with the US and the UK.

The Government has faced criticism that it has still not gone far enough despite measures to hit five further oligarchs, and targeting more than 100 businesses and individuals.