NICOLA Sturgeon has called on Boris Johnson to go further after announcing the UK’s "first barrage" of sanctions against Russia as tensions in Ukraine grow.

Johnson announced sanctions against five Russian banks and three “very high net wealth” individuals under his first measures over the Ukrainian incursion.

Using "new and unprecedented" powers the PM imposed sanctions on five Russian banks: Rossiayaz Bank, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea Bank. 

“This the first tranche, the first barrage, of what we are prepared to do and we hold further sanctions at readiness to be deployed," the Conservative chief said.

READ MORE: Ukraine crisis: Boris Johnson's government says Russian invasion has begun

The strength of the response was compared to earlier rhetoric from Johnson, in which he pledged to "come down like a steel trap in the event of the first Russian toecap crossing into more sovereign Ukrainian territory".

Journalist Steven Swinford questioned how Tuesday's measures square with that bold statement.

"It would appear that they don’t," replied Scotland's First Minister. "If this is a ‘first tranche’ there needs to be further tranches with much tougher action soon."

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Meanwhile, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford welcomed the sanctions, but warned dithering from Number 10 has allowed Russian individuals to move “dirty assets and money” out of the country in recent weeks.

He told the Prime Minister: “We stand with the Ukrainian people who are now under us all. A European country, an ally, is under attack.

“We should be very clear about what is now happening. This is an illegal Russian occupation of Ukraine just as it was in Crimea.

“Russia has effectively annexed another two Ukrainian regions in a blatant breach of international law. This effectively ends the Minsk process.

“It is a further violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“No-one should even repeat the Russian lie that this is about peacekeeping. This is warmongering, plain and simple.”

The SNP MP called for the UK Government to implement the full recommendations of the Security Committee’s Russia report and provide urgent financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Blackford went on to ask that partners of UK citizens residing in Ukraine are granted exemptions to enter the country. “They need that certainty and they need it today,” the SNP chief said.

He warned that the Kremlin would launch a “barrage of disinformation” and asked what steps Downing Street was taking to combat it.

“Let president Putin hear loudly and clearly that he must now desist from this act of war, this attack on a sovereign nation. Let us all demonstrate that we stand with the people of Ukraine,” the Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP said.

Speaking in the Commons, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the sanctions announced by Boris Johnson and the collective international response, but said “we must be prepared to go further”.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already begun, a Cabinet minister said on Tuesday as Johnson led a crisis meeting of ministers and senior officials to consider the response to Vladimir Putin’s actions.

At the 6.30am meeting of the Cobra committee the Prime Minister was briefed on the latest intelligence after Putin ordered his troops to carry out “peacekeeping” duties in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The Prime Minister addressed MPs after warning Putin “gravely miscalculated” the situation.

Johnson described the troops being sent by Putin into the Donbas region under the guise of being “peacekeepers” as a “renewed invasion” of Ukraine.

He said the Russian president is “establishing the pretext for a full-scale offensive” as he warned this could include the capture of the capital Kyiv by the nearly 200,000 troops massed on Ukraine’s borders.

LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Prime Minister to “go further” with his sanctions.

He said: “Freeze and begin seizing the assets of every single one of Putin’s cronies in the UK and then expel these oligarchs from our country as part of a much stronger sanctions regime.

“Second, recognise the existential threat posed by Putin to our Nato allies by immediately cancelling [the Prime Minister’s] own decision, his misguided decision, to cut our armed forces by 10,000 troops, and third, no longer tolerate international sporting or cultural events hosted in Russia.

“Can I confirm what I think he implied … that he will push for this year’s Champions League final to be moved from St Petersburg? President Putin has made a terrible decision, will the Prime Minister make sure he pays a terrible price?”

Boris Johnson replied: “Yes … we are indeed cracking down on ill-gotten gains in London and on the cronies of Vladimir Putin.

“On his point about sporting events… I think it inconceivable that major international football tournaments can take place in Russia after, as I say, the invasion of a sovereign country.”