Sofia Abramovich posts anti-Putin message

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's daughter Sofia today dramatically joined a chorus of wealthy Russians slamming Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.

The 27-year-old heiress, who spends much of her time in London, shared an image on Instagram showing the Russian leader in a danger sign with the caption: 'The biggest and most successful lie of the Kremlin's propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin'.

Ms Abramovich's intervention is particularly notable due to her father's status as one of the most high-profile oligarchs living in Britain, with calls growing for him to be personally targeted with sanctions.

He was named by MPs on Tuesday as being one of 35 oligarchs identified by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as one of the 'key enablers' of the 'kleptocracy' run by Putin.

He vehemently denies he is close to the Kremlin or has done anything that would merit sanctions being imposed against him - as Britain looked to impose sanctions on Russia amid rising tensions with Ukraine.

Mr Abramovich is reported to have been effectively barred from living in the UK ever again, and he has not been seen at his Premier League football club's south-west London home, Stamford Bridge, for months.

He withdrew his application for a British Tier 1 investor visa in 2018, after reported delays in his application following criticism of Russian oligarchs in the wake of the Salisbury poisonings.

According to The Sun, immigration officials are under instructions to make it impossible for Mr Abramovich - who owns a £125million mansion near Kensington Palace - to base himself in the UK.

His case is said to be being handled by the Home Office's 'Special Cases Unit'.

International condemnation for the Kremlin's actions have been widespread - with some of Russia's biggest celebrities joining in.

Many have shared black squares on their social media profiles, along with the hashtag 'no war'.

Among those posting the black square was Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite and former Russian presidential candidate who is rumoured to be the goddaughter of Vladimir Putin. She has denied the rumours but previously admitted that he attended her baptism.

Posting yesterday, she said: 'Today they woke me up at six in the morning with the words 'Ksyusha, the war has begun.'

'Not on our land, [but] with our people, yes.

'We, the Russians, will be dealing with the consequences of today for many years to come.'

TV presenter and actress Anastasia Ivleeva, who has nearly 20 million Instagram followers, also posted a black square, commenting: 'No war.'

Leading TV host Ivan Urgant also hit out at the situation, commenting: 'Fear and pain. NO to war.'

Former World Champion figure skater Evgenia Medvedevа wrote: 'I hope this all ends as soon as possible, like a bad dream.'

Maxim Galkin, a popular comedian who is also married to Russian's biggest celeb, added: 'From early morning in touch with relatives and friends from Ukraine. Can't put into words how I feel! How is this possible? There can be no justification for war. No war.'

Actress Irina Starshenbaum wrote: 'How did we get to this point? Nothing justifies war and I have no words to express the pain and horror of this morning. Ukrainians, please forgive me for being helpless. We want an immediate end to these heinous acts.'

More than 150 senior Russian officials have signed an open letter condemning Putin's invasion of Ukraine as 'an unprecedented atrocity' and warning of 'catastrophic consequences'.

The deputies said they were 'convinced' Russian citizens do not back the war and blamed Putin 'personally' for ordering troops into Ukraine in an attack 'for which there is no and cannot be justification'.

Putin in the early hours of yesterday morning gave the order to attack, delivering an extraordinary address to the Russian nation in which he declared a 'special military operation' to 'de-militarise' and 'de-Nazify' Ukraine in what amounted to a outright declaration of war.

The letter urged Russians 'not to participate in the aggression' and called on citizens to speak out against the invasion because 'only massive popular condemnation can stop the war'.

Among the letter's signatories were Moscow deputies Elena Rusakova, Maxim Gongalsky, Andrey Morev, Elena Kotenochkina and Elena Filina as well as St Petersburg officials David Kuvaev and Polina Sizova and Veliky Novgorod deputy Anna Cherepanova.

It was a surprising step for Russian officials to speak out against Putin, who usually holds an iron grip on dissent and last week televised a meeting with Moscow's top security chiefs in which they appeared to be railroaded into backing his plans to invade Ukraine.

The letter, which described the signatories as those 'elected by the people', said they 'unreservedly condemn the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine'.

'This is an unprecedented atrocity for which there is no and cannot be justification. The decision to attack was made personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are convinced that the citizens of Russia did not give him such a mandate.'

The letter warned of 'catastrophic consequences' - 'Thousands of people will die, be injured and maimed, cities dear to many Russians will be destroyed.'

It said Russia would face 'the condemnation of the world community' resulting in 'isolation, rising prices and poverty'.

'Hopes for a good life in Russia are crumbling before our eyes,' the letter added.

'We urge you not to participate in the aggression and not to approve of it. Please don't be silent: only massive popular condemnation can stop the war.'

It comes after heartbreaking images emerged from Ukraine showing bloodied civilians staggering through the streets of towns in the east of the country following Russian shelling in the early hours of yesterday.

Other civilians were also injured and some others are believed to have died, though numbers of those hurt were not yet confirmed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it was not targeting cities, but using precision weapons and claimed that 'there is no threat to civilian population.'

Yet Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the east of Ukraine all reported coming under attack, with blasts also reported in the west - in Zhytomyr and Lviv, close to the border with Poland.