There are fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the situation as volatile.

It comes after a number of countries, including the UK, criticised Russia for an apparent “false flag” military operation that ended in a Ukrainian kindergarten being hit by a tank explosive.

It’s reported Russian separatists claimed Ukrainian forces began shooting at them, causing the Russians to retaliate.

Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Michael Shoebridge, said the world was “very close” to witnessing a full scale conflict.

“I think you can see that in the actions that Vladimir Putin is taking and some of the escalation in the conflict that’s been going on since 2014 between Russia and Ukraine,” he told Scott Emerson.

“But also some of the unprecedented steps that the Americans and other countries are taking to reveal secret intelligence about what Russian plans are, and how Russia wants to be able to say it’s provoked.”

He said only President Putin knows what’s coming next, whether he will order an invasion or armed attack.

“But we can see massed military forces around Ukraine that would be able to do exactly that, should he decide that and he hasn’t stepped back in any way that would diffuse the crisis.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview + what he believes President Putin is trying to do