JAI

Thousands have joined various rallies, including outside the Russian embassy and Downing Street in London, and in Manchester and Edinburgh.

Eggs were thrown at the embassy and messages written in chalk were scrawled over the outer walls.

And the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have said they “stand” with the people of Ukraine as they “bravely fight”.

In a tweet, Prince William and Catherine said they had met President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife in 2020 and said: “Today we stand with the president and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”

Prince Harry and Meghan also released a statement saying they stood with the people of Ukraine “against this breach of international and humanitarian law” and encouraged global leaders to do the same.

Earlier Boris Johnson hailed plans to send extra military support and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it remains under attack from Russia.

One of the demonstrations has seen large crowds of people gathering outside the Russian embassy in London throughout the day. There have been chants of “Russia stop the war”, “Putin stop the war” and “leave Ukraine alone”.

Elena Shevchenko was among those at that protest. She is half-Russian, half-Ukrainian, and her father is currently in Kyiv, with his family.

She has spoken to her father and says he has been sleeping in a shelter to escape the bombing.

“I feel desperate and there’s not a lot I can do,” she said. “But being here at least is something and I can show my position and show my support.”

Helena Kovalenko, 33, originally from northern Ukraine, told the PA news agency she was “so angry” with Russian president Vladimir Putin for invading her country.

“I have family there, my mum and dad, and I’m so scared for them,” she said.

Mick Antoniw, a minister in the Welsh government who had been in Kyiv just before the invasion, was also at the protest and called on the government to introduce “sanctions which isolate Russia, economically, socially, politically and culturally” – and said they must be “so severe that the people around Putin want to remove Putin.”

At St Mary’s Ukrainian School, in Holland Park, London, pupils held up placards as they protested against the Russian invasion.

The supplementary school is held on Saturdays on the premises of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre.

Supporters of Ukraine also gathered elsewhere in the UK on Saturday, including in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens where around 1,000 people gathered in the city centre.

In Scotland, people gathered near the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh to urge politicians to do more to support Ukraine.

Demonstrators passed a megaphone around, sharing personal stories about relatives hiding in basements in Kyiv to avoid shelling and gunfire.

And people showed their support for Ukraine by laying flowers and writing messages on the pavement outside the Consulate General of Russia in Edinburgh.

There were also demonstrations in smaller towns and cities, including in Middlesbrough and Gloucester.

Ahead of their Premier League match against Watford, Manchester United players posed for a picture alongside a poster saying “peace” in several languages, while fans displayed Ukrainian flags in Old Trafford.

The club has already cut its ties with Russian airline Aeroflot – which has been banned from landing at UK airports or flying through its airspace, as have all Russian private jets.

A number of buildings across the country, including the London Eye, 10 Downing Street and Lincoln Cathedral, have been brightly lit in yellow and blue this week in a display of solidarity with Ukraine.

Britain is among more than 25 countries to pledge to continue to supply arms, as capital Kyiv remains under attack.

Russian assaults on the capital have been met with fierce resistance on the third day of the invasion, and there is also fighting in or near several other cities.

British Challenger 2 tanks and armoured vehicles from the Royal Welsh battlegroup have been arriving in Estonia as part of Nato moves to strengthen its eastern flank, the MoD said.

Ukraine faces “days, weeks, months more” of heavy fighting, armed forces minister James Heappey has warned.

“It is going to be brutal,” he told the BBC. “We are going to see some horrendous things on our TV screens.”

Mr Heappey said he could not disclose operational details of how the extra support from the UK would be delivered to Ukraine but said it might be “on its way right now”.

Mr Heappey told the BBC that the UK is continuing to press for Russia to be excluded from the Swift system, but more diplomacy was needed to get international agreement.

He also said the MoD is working on plans to support a resistance movement and a government in exile if Ukraine were to be finally overrun.

In other developments: