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Separatists in Ukraine have asked Moscow to help repel "aggression" and explosions rocked the breakaway eastern city of Donetsk as the United States warned everything is in place for a major attack by Russia on its neighbour.

Hours after the breakaway regions issued their plea, at least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness said. Four military trucks were seen heading to the scene.

Airlines should stop flying over any part of Ukraine because of the risk of an unintended shoot-down or a cyber attack targeting air traffic control amid tensions with Russia, a conflict zone monitor said.

"Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC Nightly News.

"Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine."

The United Nations Security Council will discuss the stand-off on Wednesday night, diplomats said, in the 15-member body's second late-night meeting on the crisis this week.

Moscow has long-denied that it has plans to invade despite massing tens of thousands of troops near its neighbour.

"I am asking for help to repel the Ukrainian regime's military aggression against the population of the Donetsk People's Republic," said Denis Pushilin who heads the area Moscow recognised as independent, according to TASS news agency.

The White House rejected the separatist plea for help as another Russian "false flag" operation, a fake crisis manufactured to justify greater intervention.

"This is an example of it," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

"That is suggesting that they feel under threat. By whom? The Ukrainians that the Russians are threatening to attack?"

UN chief Antonio Guterres has dismissed claims of a genocide in eastern Ukraine. Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

A total of 80 per cent of the soldiers assembled are in a position to launch a full-scale invasion on Ukraine, a senior US defence official said.

Satellite imagery taken on Wednesday showed new deployments in western Russia, many of them within 15km of the border with Ukraine and less than 80km from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, US satellite company Maxar said.

The images showed field deployment, military convoys, artillery and armoured personnel carriers with support equipment and troops. The images could not be independently verified by Reuters.

Russia has partially closed airspace in the Rostov flight information region to the east of its border with Ukraine "in order to provide safety" for civil aviation flights, according to its notice to airmen.

A 30-day state of emergency in Ukraine restricting the freedom of movement of conscripted reservists, curbing the media and imposing personal document checks, according to a draft text, begins on Thursday.

The Ukrainian government has also announced compulsory military service for all men of fighting age.

While the West has held off the most stringent sanctions measures it could impose, the United States stepped up the pressure by imposing sanctions on the firm building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers.

Germany on Tuesday froze approvals for the pipeline, which has been built but was not yet in operation, amid concerns it could allow Moscow to weaponise energy supplies to Europe.

The rouble plunged more than three per cent as the European Union blacklisted Russian lawmakers, freezing their assets and banning travel. Wall Street slipped on news of security measures taken by Ukraine's government.

Ukrainian government websites, which have experienced outages in recent weeks blamed by Kyiv on cyber attacks, were again offline on Wednesday. Ukraine's parliament, cabinet and foreign ministry websites were affected.

Moscow has described warnings of an invasion as anti-Russian hysteria. On Wednesday, it took down flags from its embassy in Kyiv, having ordered its diplomats to evacuate for safety reasons.

Ukraine's military said one soldier had been killed and six wounded in increased shelling by pro-Russian separatists using heavy artillery, mortar bombs and Grad rocket systems in the two breakaway areas in the past 24 hours.

© RAW 2022

Australia has formally signed off on a range of sanctions against Russia as the United Nations Security Council convenes for an emergency meeting at Ukraine's request.

Council diplomats are finalising a draft resolution condemning Russia for violating international law and a 2015 agreement aimed at restoring peace in eastern Ukraine.

It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of two Moscow-backed rebel regions and ordered the deployment of Russian forces as "peacekeepers".

Ukraine has declared a state of emergency as shelling intensified in eastern Ukraine and there are reports of convoys of military equipment moving through the region from the Russian border.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Governor-General David Hurley on Thursday to approve the first tranche of sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions, aimed at Russian banks and individuals of strategic and economic importance, will become law from Friday and come into effect at the end of March.

Mr Morrison said the sanctions would send a message about the cost of Russia's aggression.

But he admitted he did not expect the sanctions would lead to Russia withdrawing troops.

"There must be a price for the unprovoked, unlawful, unwarranted and unjustified attacks. This cannot be a consequence-free action by Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime," he said.

Additional sanctions and a larger list of individuals remains on the cards, with Australia preparing to move in lockstep with the United Kingdom and United States against Russia.

Eight members of Russia's security council are covered in the first tranche of Australia's sanctions, including travel bans and finance freezes.

"We have plenty left in the tank when it comes to further actions we would take if and when the violence is escalated by Russia," Mr Morrison said.

"The most potent form of those sanctions are the targeted ones to the individuals. Our list is longer than the eight (members) and we will be working closely to develop the case that will enable us to take further actions against others."

Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC is monitoring suspicious transactions as it continues to regulate potential breaches of Australian and foreign sanctions.

It regulates more than 16,000 financial sector businesses.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said stronger action from China could deter Russia from going into Ukraine but it has so far refused to act.

"The Chinese government has the ability, the relationship, to stop president Putin in his tracks," he told 2GB.

"But of course, they've done the complete opposite. They've provided words of encouragement."

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says a unified, global approach is essential.

"What we need to do is make sure we're united in putting forward our view that Russia's behaviour is contrary to international law," he said.

"Australia acting by ourselves isn't going to have an impact, what we need to do to maximise that impact is to be in lockstep with allies and democratic nations."

Russia's ambassador hit back at the sanctions, accusing Australia of being indifferent to discrimination faced by Russian speakers.

In a statement, the embassy said the decision to recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on humanitarian grounds to "protect" civilians, including hundreds of thousands of Russian nationals.

But Mr Morrison said any suggestion from Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky that Russian troops in Ukraine were peacekeepers was "offensive" to legitimate peacekeeping forces.

"They're not peacekeepers, they're invaders. That's how we see it and we'll call it out. If they don't like it, that's tough."

Despite fears the Australian sanctions on Russia would lead to cyber security attacks, Mr Morrison said the government was not aware of any immediate threats to Australian organisations.

However, an enhanced cyber security position will be adopted and the monitoring of such threats would be increased.

More than 180 Australian citizens in Ukraine have requested assistance to leave the country and an estimated 1400 Australians remain there.

with reporting from Reuters

© AAP 2022

Australia has formally signed off on a range of sanctions against Russia following its threats towards Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognised the independence of two Moscow-backed rebel regions and ordered the deployment of Russian forces as "peacekeepers".

Ukraine has declared a state of emergency as shelling intensified in eastern Ukraine and there are reports of convoys of military equipment moving through the region from the direction of the Russian border.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Governor-General David Hurley on Thursday to approve the first tranche of sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions, aimed at Russian banks and individuals of strategic and economic importance, will become law from Friday and come into effect at the end of March.

Mr Morrison said the sanctions would send a message about the cost of Russia's aggression.

But he admitted he did not expect the sanctions would lead to Russia withdrawing troops.

"The reason we're doing this is there must be a price for the unprovoked, unlawful, unwarranted and unjustified attacks and threats and intimidation that has been imposed by Russia on Ukraine," he said.

"This cannot be a consequence-free action by Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime."

Additional sanctions and a larger list of individuals remains on the cards, with Australia preparing to move in lockstep with the UK and US against Russia.

Eight members of Russia's security council are covered in the first tranche of Australia's sanctions, including travel bans and finance freezes.

"We have plenty left in the tank when it comes to further actions we would take if and when the violence is escalated by Russia," Mr Morrison said.

"The most potent form of those sanctions are the targeted ones to the individuals. Our list is longer than the eight (members) and we will be working closely to develop the case that will enable us to take further actions against others."

Australia's financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, is monitoring suspicious transactions as it continues to regulate potential breaches of Australian and foreign sanctions.

It regulates over 16,000 financial sector businesses.

But Defence Minister Peter Dutton said stronger action from China could deter Russia from going into Ukraine but it has so far refused to act.

"The Chinese government has the ability, the relationship, to stop president Putin in his tracks," he told 2GB.

"But of course, they've done the complete opposite. They've provided words of encouragement."

Russia's ambassador hit back at the sanctions, accusing Australia of being indifferent to discrimination faced by Russian speakers.

In a statement, the embassy said the decision to recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on humanitarian grounds to "protect" civilians, including hundreds of thousands of Russian nationals.

"(Russia) will from now on guarantee the right of (Donetsk and Luhansk) residents to live in peace and preserve their language and cultural identity."

But Mr Morrison said any suggestion from Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky that Russian troops in Ukraine were peacekeepers was "offensive" to legitimate peacekeeping forces.

"They're not peacekeepers, they're invaders. That's how we see it and we'll call it out. If they don't like it, that's tough."

Despite fears the Australian sanctions on Russia would lead to cyber security attacks, Mr Morrison said the government was not aware of any threats to Australian organisations.

However, an enhanced cyber security position will be adopted and the monitoring of such threats would be increased.

More than 180 Australian citizens in Ukraine have requested assistance to leave the country.

It is estimated there are about 1400 Australians in Ukraine, although the majority have elected to stay.

About 430 visa applications from Ukrainians had been made to extend visas by six months.

with reporting from Reuters

© AAP 2022