War fears grow as Putin orders troops to eastern Ukraine

Underscoring the urgency, the UN Security Council held a rare night-time emergency meeting on Monday at the request of Ukraine, the US and other countries

Ukrainian officers patrol the Ukrainian-Belarusian state border (Oleksandr Ratushniak/AP)

A long-feared Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to be imminent, if not already under way, with Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering forces into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

A vaguely worded decree signed by Mr Putin did not say if troops were on the move, and it cast the order as an effort to “maintain peace”.