Ukraine conflict: What does it mean for me?

Russian forces have launched a military assault on Ukraine with explosions near major cities across the country.

Western countries have imposed sanctions designed to cripple the Russian economy and military effort.

The conflict, as well as the economic fall-out, could have major affects on people around the world.

The conflict has driven the oil price to its highest level in more than seven years and future gas prices jumped by 60% in just one day.

Russia is the second-biggest exporter of crude oil, and the world's largest natural gas exporter - which is vital to heating homes, powering planes and filling cars with fuel.

The UK only gets 6% of its crude oil and 5% of its gas from Russia, in comparison with the EU, which sources nearly half of its gas from the country.

There are fears President Vladimir Putin may "weaponise" its natural resources by reducing supplies of gas to Europe in response to sanctions. If one country reliant on Russian supplies receives less gas, they have to replace it, impacting the supplies of gas for other countries.

That's why British energy prices and bills are still affected in a similar way to European ones.

Consumers in the UK and in Europe were already paying high prices for energy and fuel, with demand up following the easing of Covid restrictions.

The conflict is expected to drive these even higher.

Martin Young, an analyst at the banking group Investec, has warned that household fuel bills in the UK could reach £3,000, while motoring groups said average petrol prices had already hit a record high of nearly 149.5p on Wednesday, with diesel at 152.83p.

In Germany, politicians are calling for a "national gas reserve" to be created to shelter consumers from price shocks.

And if airlines decide to pass on the rise in costs of aviation fuel to customers, then plane ticket prices could rise too.

The ripple effects from the Russian invasion of Ukraine could also hit shopping baskets around the world.

Russia and Ukraine, once dubbed "the breadbasket of Europe", export about a quarter of the world's wheat and half of its sunflower products, like seeds and oil. Ukraine also sells a lot of corn to countries around the world.

Analysts have warned that war could impact the production of grains and even double global wheat prices.

This could severely impact shoppers in countries like Egypt, Turkey and many countries in North Africa in particular, which rely on wheat and corn from the region.

More than 40% of Ukraine's wheat and corn exports went to the Middle East or Africa last year - and disruptions to supply could affect their availability in these areas.

The UK, by contrast, typically produces over 90% of the wheat consumed in the country.

But Russia is also one of the world's biggest exporters of fertilisers. Their cost has already been driven up as they were in short supply last year, and farmers could have to pay more to source them and produce their crops.

Russian stocks crashed by as much as 45% after news emerged of the assault on Ukraine, with banks and oil companies among the worst-affected.

It also led to steep falls on stock markets elsewhere around the world. In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 index fell more than 3% and Germany's Dax index was nearly 5% lower.

As the conflict develops, markets are likely to see more volatility.

Many people's initial reaction to "the markets" is that they are not directly affected, because they do not invest money in stocks and shares.

Yet there are millions of people with a pension - either private or through work - whose savings are invested in the stock market.

The value of their savings pot is influenced by the performance of these investments.

Pension savers mostly let experts choose where to invest this money to help it grow. Widespread falls in share prices, such as those triggered on Thursday, are likely to be bad news for pension savers.

In a bid to protect their investments, some investors or savers might look to move their money or assets to traditional "safe havens", like gold.

But pension savings, like any investments, are usually a long-term bet and advisers say it's important not to panic about short-term movements up or down.

Households in the US and the UK are already being squeezed by the rising cost of living, while wages struggle to keep up.

Inflation, which measures how fast the cost of living rises over time, hit 7.5% in January in the US - the highest level seen since February 1982. It was driven in part by food and energy prices.

If supplies of energy, food, or other commodities like metals are strained by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, prices could be pushed up even further.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research think-tank said that inflation in major Western economies could hit close to 10%.

That could encourage central banks such as the US Federal Reserve or the Bank of England to increase interest rates, so borrowing money becomes more expensive.

The idea is that when borrowing is more expensive, people will have less money to spend. As a result, they will buy fewer things, and prices will stop rising as fast.

In the UK, about 2.2 million home-owners with mortgages linked to the Bank of England's base rate would see repayments go up, for example, putting further pressure on household budgets.

Russia is one of the world's biggest suppliers of metals used in car manufacturing, such as nickel or palladium.

Nickel, for example, is used in lithium-iron batteries, and palladium in catalytic converters.

The car industry is already reeling from a chip shortage and supply chain problems during the pandemic. In the UK, one in five nearly-new cars are now selling at more than their brand-new equivalents, as their values have been pushed up, according to the Auto Trader website.

If Russia decided to cut off supplies of these metals in retaliation to sanctions, those supply problems could worsen with car firms having to find alternative sources and prices likely to rise as a result.

Countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe also produce substantial amounts of palladium, but demand has been increasing.

Russia is also home to manufacturing hubs for brands like Stellantis, Volkswagen and Toyota. Factories in the region could struggle to operate under sanctions, potentially hampering production and the availability of new cars.