RUSSIAN forces are already feared to be inside Ukraine as Kiev announced it foiled a false flag attack amid fears of an invasion.

       Kiev claims it has dismantled a group of saboteurs who were being "coordinated by Russian special services" for a string of attacks in Zhytomyr and Kharkiv.

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       Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units as Kiev fears invasion Credit: AP

       Kharkiv is close to the border with Russia, while Zhytomyr is close to Kiev and a few hundred miles from the border with Belarus.

       Ukrainian secret service the SBU said the group was planning assaults on city infrastructure in a bid to "destabilise" the border region.

       It comes amid repeated warnings over a potential false flag attack by Russia that would be used as a pretext for an invasion.

       The United States has warned that Moscow could manufacture an incident in Ukraine to be able to then frame an invasion as a justified response.

       And it came as UK Armed Forces minister James Heappey claimed that parts of a "Russian military advance force" are already in Ukraine.

       "We are becoming aware of a significant number of individuals that are assessed to be associated with Russian military advance-force operations and currently located in Ukraine," he wrote for The Sun.

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       Ukrainian security services released pictures showing a raid on the gang as armed special forces broke into an apartment to seize weapons and cash.

       The SBU said that an explosive device, small arms , ammo, training plans and computers were seized during the raid.

       "The gang's organizers were preparing to commit a series of robberies on urban infrastructure, including the commercial sphere", said the security service.

       "According to their plan, this should lead to destabilization of the internal situation in the regions".

       Two locals had reportedly planned the operation under the guise of a setting up a security firm.

       But secretly the operation was being organised by the Russian secret services.

       The targets - which have not been revealed - were selected for the financial impact and "the size of publicity it would lead to".

       Fears of war in the region loom large as Putin has sent more than 100,000 troops to the border with Ukraine.

       The world now sits on the brink of the largest conflict in Europe since World War 2.

       Boris Johnson last night urged President Putin to step back from the brink of a “painful, violent and bloody” invasion of Ukraine.

       The Prime Minister warned of Russian plans for a “lightning war” that could take out the capital Kiev.

       Nato ordered fighter jets and battleships to the conflict zone as President Joe Biden mulled plans to rush as many as 50,000 US troops into Eastern Europe to stop a bloodbath.

       And today, Defence Minister James Heappey warned there are already Russian-military linked figures in Ukraine.

       But he says Britain is fully behind Ukraine in the same way that it backed Poland in World War 2, and saying the PM has sent them “more than just warm words”.

       Boris ruled out sending British combat troops but will provide weapon support for Ukraine and back a crushing raft of Western economic sanctions against Russia.