Citing Ukrainian border officials, Reuters reported on Thursday that the Russian military was trying to break into the Kyiv region.

"Russian military tried to break into Ukraine's Zhytomyr region on Belarus border, using grad rocket systems," officials added.

Market reaction

Safe-haven flows continue to dominate the financial markets following this headline. The EUR/USD pair was last seen losing 1.3% on a daily basis at 1.1162, Gold was up 3.25% at $1,971 and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate was rising more than 8% near $100.