People across the UK fall silent to mark first anniversary of invasion

ITV News correspondents report from London and Ukraine on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion

The UK fell silent for one minute at 11am on Friday, to mark a year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak led the pause outside Downing Street, where he was joined by his wife Akshata Murthy, Kyiv’s ambassador to Britain Vadym Prystaiko and dozens of Ukrainian troops being trained by the UK.

After the national pause, the Ukrainian national anthem was sung.

Ukrainians in locations including Leeds, Liverpool, and Reading also observed the silence. Some wore traditional dress and raised flags.

Watch as people fall silent across the UK to mark a year since Ukraine was invaded

The one-minute silence halted Commons proceedings during a Friday sitting, when a small group of MPs usually attend to consider private member’s Bills.

Several ministers and shadow ministers joined the cohort of backbench Labour and Conservative MPs for the occasion.

Deputy Commons Speaker Dame Rosie Winterton said “Slava Ukraini”, meaning 'Glory to Ukraine' in Ukrainian, as the silence came to an end.

Sir Keir Starmer took part in the silence from an event in Cardiff. The Labour leader was captured standing alongside MPs Jo Stevens and Stephen Doughty, as well as members of the Ukrainian community.

Earlier on Friday, the King issued a message marking the anniversary. He praised the “remarkable courage and resilience” of the nation’s people and noted "the outpouring of solidarity from across the globe".

To give Kyiv a “decisive advantage”, Britain was trying to revive plans to provide eastern European allies with fighter jets so they can release their Soviet-era planes to Ukraine.

The PM ill use a call with G7 leaders later in the day, including US President Joe Biden, to “move faster” in arming Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s resistance against the invasion.

Britain also announced a new package of sanctions, imposing an export ban on every piece of equipment Russia has been found using on the battlefield in Ukraine.

When Mr Putin launched his renewed invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, many believed his military might would capture Kyiv within weeks or even days.

But the Ukrainian resistance, led by Mr Zelenskyy and assisted by the weapons and support provided by allies, including Britain, repelled the invasion to the east.

At least 100,000 of each side’s soldiers are estimated to have been killed or injured, thousands more civilians have died and more than 13 million people have been made refugees or displaced inside Ukraine.

On Friday, Mr Zelenskyy vowed Ukraine will do everything in its power to defeat the invasion before another anniversary can be marked.

“It was a year of resilience. A year of care. A year of bravery. A year of pain. A year of hope. A year of endurance. A year of unity,” he said in a national address.

“The year of invincibility. The furious year of invincibility. Its main result is that we endured. We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year.”