In a televised address to the nation earlier on Thursday, Boris Johnson said Vladimir Putin has “unleashed war in our European continent” with a “hideous and barbaric venture” in Ukraine. He vowed Moscow will be hit with a “massive” package of sanctions, writes news.sky.com.

Boris Johnson has hit Russia with what he called the “largest set of sanctions ever imposed anywhere by the UK government” - targeting individuals including President Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law.

Downing Street confirmed five further oligarchs who are particularly close to the Kremlin will be sanctioned, including Russia’s youngest billionaire and former husband of Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Kirill Shamalov, the chairman and CEO of PSB bank Petr Fradkov, deputy president of VTB bank Denis Bortnikov, general director of United Aircraft Corporation Yury Slyusar and CEO of Novikombank Georgieva Elena Aleksandrovna.

Making a statement in the Commons, the prime minister said that more than 100 businesses and individuals will be tackled in total, including “all the major manufacturers that support Putin’s war machine”.

Mr Johnson added that there are also plans to introduce legislation that would limit the amount of deposits Russian nationals will be able to hold in UK bank accounts and to work with G7 and NATO allies to shut off the country’s access to the SWIFT payment system.