KYIV, 23 Feb (REUTERS) -- Ukraine declared a state of emergency on Wednesday (Feb 23) and told its citizens in Russia to immediately come home, while Moscow began evacuating its Kyiv embassy, in the latest ominous signs for Ukrainians who fear an all-out Russian military onslaught.

Shelling intensified at the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of two Moscow-backed rebel regions this week and has ordered the deployment of Russian forces as "peacekeepers".

Convoys of military equipment including nine tanks moved towards eastern Ukraine's Donetsk from the direction of the Russian border, a Reuters witness reported.

But there was still no clear indication of whether Putin will launch a massed assault on Ukraine with the tens of thousands of troops he has gathered near the border. A US defence official said the Russian forces were "as ready as they can be" for an attack.

"Predicting what might be the next step of Russia, the separatists or the personal decisions of the Russian president - I cannot say," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

That uncertainty and growing volley of sanctions on Russian interests by Washington and its allies have jolted financial markets, from oil and shares to wheat.

The rouble plunged around 3 per cent as the European Union blacklisted Russian lawmakers, freezing their assets and banning travel.