Defiant Ukrainians stage flag-waving 'day of unity' and carry out practise airstrikes as they thumb their noses at Russian invasion threat as the West warns there is NO sign Putin is withdrawing his forces from the border

 Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity on Wednesday, even as the West warned it has seen no sign of a promised pullback of Russian troops from the country's borders.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who declared the 'unity day' to coincide with the rumoured date of Putin's invasion, addressed the nation after the attack failed to materialise - telling his countrymen that 'we can defend our home only if we stay united.'

'We are united by a desire to happily live in peace,' he added, before flying via helicopter to a training range in Ukraine's west where live-fire tank and aircraft drills were underway.

Across the country, people of all ages waved flags in the streets and from apartment windows as a two-fingered salute in the face of Putin's threat to attack with some 150,000 troops massed on the borders.

Hundreds unfolded a 650ft flag at Kyiv's Olimpiyskiy Stadium, while another was draped in a shopping centre in the capital. In the government-controlled part of Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk, where a war with Russian-backed separatists has simmered since 2014, residents stretched another huge flag across a street.

As the celebrations took place, a fresh round of 'negotiating' got underway between East and West - with NATO warning Putin does not appear to be pulling troops back from the border as promised, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to 'retaliate' to any new British sanctions on his country.  

Elsewhere today... 

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he is 'positive' that Joe Biden is ready to enter into talks about European security and Putin wants to engage
• Russia denied having anything to do with a cyberattack that took down banks and the website of Ukraine's defence ministry overnight  
• The EU called on Russia to take 'concrete steps' to de-escalate its troop build-up around Ukraine, while hailing 'signs of hope'
• Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's right-wing leader, arrived in Moscow for trade talks today - brushing off pressure from the US to cancel the trip 
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Ukrainian fighter-bomb jets take part in training exercises Povursk airfield in the country's west as national 'unity day' protests take place in defiance of Russian threats

Hundreds of Ukrainians unfurled a 650ft flag at Kiev's Olympic Stadium as part of 'unity day' celebrations on Wednesday

Volodymyr Zelensky called for the celebrations to coincide with the rumoured date of a Russian attack, saying that Ukrainians are united by a desire to live in peace

Ukrainians wave flags in Maidan Square, where the revolution that ousted the country's last pro-Russian government was overthrown, setting it on a path to closer ties with the West

Ukrainians hold banners in Kiev's Maidan Square as they sing the national anthem during a day of unity, timed to coincide with a rumoured day of Russian invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy examines weapons as he attends tactical military exercises held by the country's armed forces at a training ground in Rivne, in the country's west

Ukrainian fighter planes take part in live-fire drills at the Povursk airfield in western Ukraine as they prepare for the possibility of an invasion by Russia

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said earlier today videos of tanks being taken away from Crimea are merely routine troop movements instead of a promised drawn-down, and that Russia actually appears to be increasing its forces.

'If they really start to withdraw, that's something we will welcome. But that remains to be seen,' he added while sitting down for a NATO summit in Brussels on next moves. 'Just seeing the movement of battle tanks doesn't confirm a real withdrawal.'

Ben Wallace, UK defence secretary, sounded a similar note of caution as he arrived for the summit - saying that Russia's forces remain at a high level of readiness that can be maintained for 'weeks' as talks resume at the barrel of a gun. 

'It's pretty clear that [Russia's] intentions towards Ukraine are to change their behaviour, and indeed change NATO's relationship with Ukraine, and they're doing so at the threat of invasion,' he added. 

Meanwhile Lavrov, who has been leading negotiations with NATO and the US, said in Moscow today that 'hysteria' over an invasion is 'puzzling' to Russia while accusing the allies of trying to dictate where Putin can position troops on his own territory. 

Underlining concerns about the Russian 'withdrawal', analysts from Conflict Intelligence Team - a respected group which tracks Russian military movements - said forces being withdrawn from Crimea will actually be moved closer to Ukraine. 

Moscow says the units are being moved to their 'home bases', but the homes of at least three of the four units leaving Crimea are as close or closer than their current position relative to Ukraine.

Izvestia newspaper reported that units of the 3rd, 42nd and 150th Motorised Rifle Divisions are being sent back to their permanent bases.

Yet the 3rd is based at Valuyki and Boguchar, respectively 15 and 42 miles from the Ukrainian border in Belgorod and Voronezh regions respectively.

The 150th is based in Novocherkassk, Rostov region, some 31 miles from the border.

The troops will be as close - or closer - to the border at their permanent barracks.

Of the three named divisions being pulled out of Crimea, only the 42nd - in Chechnya - is a substantial distance from Ukraine, some 700 miles away.

It comes a day after Putin said he is willing to engage in negotiations with the West over security guarantees designed to ease sky-high tensions. 

Both Mr Stoltenburg and Mr Wallace did welcome the change in tone from Moscow, while pointing out that the crisis is far from over.

'There's over 100 battalion tactical groups of the Russian ground forces, that's 60 per cent of the entire Russian land combat power on the borders of Ukraine,' Mr Wallace said.

A Ukrainian tank takes part in live-fire drills near the city of Rivne, in the country's west, on Thursday as thousands of Russian troops mass in the east

A Ukrainian tank takes part in live-fire exercises near the city of Rivne, in the country's west, amid continued fears that Russia is positioning itself to attack

One Ukrainian tank appears to run over the nose of another vehicle during drills to mark a national 'day of unity'

Ukrainians in Maidan square, Kiev, cautious but hopeful with banners calling for 'peace and togetherness'

A Ukrainian fighter jet is pictured on the runway at Povursk airfield as it takes part in live-fire drills on Wednesday

The view from a cockpit of a Ukrainian fighter shows other jets flying in formation during drills in the country's west today

'130,000-plus troops, both in Belarus and indeed Ukraine, but also out at sea there's effectively a significant flotilla of Russian and amphibious landing ships, and indeed war ships and missile ships.

'From a Ukrainian point of view they're fairly surrounded by a very large force of ready troops. That continues, they haven't taken the foot of the gas.'

He added: 'That's why we're all here at Nato today and tomorrow to try and work together to reduce tensions and try and de-escalate.'

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, added his voice to the chorus - saying he hasn't seen 'any withdrawal yet'. 

Putin wants Ukraine to be banned from joining NATO and for the alliance to withdraw troops from ex-Soviet states. 

Both of those demands have been dismissed but a range of other compromises have been offered on arms control, transparency around missile deployments, and information-sharing on military drills that Putin has said he is willing to discuss.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister and chief negotiator, has said a 10-page response to NATO's offers has been prepared though not yet sent. 

Kyiv Mayor Wladimir Klitschko has said that he hopes for a 'last-minute' diplomatic solution between Russia and Ukraine.

The former heavyweight champion of the world told LBC that he hoped that Russia would not invade his country on Wednesday.

'It is the first time in the history of Ukraine that so many Russian soldiers stayed at the border', he said.

'The risk (of) aggression towards Ukraine is pretty big. We prepare for any scenario.

'We do not know how the situation will develop but we hope that the invasion does not happen, and that at the last minute we have a diplomatic solution.'

Meanwhile the former head of MI6 Sir John Sawers said that the threat of a 'full-blooded' Russian invasion has now 'receded' after Putin made 'a number of important gains' in the military standoff.