World erupts over beautiful detail in Winter Olympics photo

Amid rising political and diplomatic tension between Russia and Ukraine, a gesture between two athletes from the at-odds nations at the Winter Olympics has been widely praised by fans and observers.

Ukranian aerial skiing star Oleksandr Abramenko won the nation's first medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics when he claimed silver in the event, behind Qi Guangpu of China.

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Russia's Ilia Burov claimed bronze, but his ecstatic response when Abramenko landed to win silver has been hailed as a much needed gesture in a time of rising uncertainty.

Burov rushed to embrace Abramenko once he was back in the staging area, the pair clearly thrilled to share an Olympic podium once more.

Abramenko won gold at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, while Burov's bronze also marked consecutive Olympic podiums for him.

Russia currently has a "massive invasion force ready to attack" Ukraine, the head of Nato has warned, as president Vladimir Putin showed no signs of de-escalating the growing crisis.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin announced some of its 130,000 troops were being withdrawn from the border of Ukraine to return to their permanent bases, sparking hopes Putin may be backing down.

Western intelligence appears to suggest otherwise, with defence secretary Ben Wallace warning of a continued build-up of field hospitals and strategic weapons systems in the region.

Qi and Abramenko held up flags from their countries on the podium, while Burov pointed to a logo on his left arm for the Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC.

Russians have been competing under that acronym after Russia's name and flag were banned at the Olympics as fallout from the country's doping scandal.

“I’m so happy for this silver and really proud of myself that I’ve won the first medal for Ukraine at these Games,” Abramenko said.

“I’m really happy that I made my five twists, although the landing was not really good, but enough for second place.”

Concerns remain over Russian troop build-up on Ukraine border

Speaking on Wednesday, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg described the situation as the"most serious security crisis in decades", but said it was not too late for Russia to "step back from the brink."

He also hinted efforts to deter Putin from invading were becoming Nato's longer term attitude towards Russia.

"Allies welcome all diplomatic efforts and there are signs from Moscow that diplomacy could continue but so far we do not see any sign of de-escalation on the ground," he told reporters in Brussels.

"No withdrawals of troops or equipment. This may of course change. However, what we see today is that Russia maintains a massive invasion force ready to attack with high end capabilities from Crimea to Belarus.

"This is the biggest concentration of forces in Europe since the Cold War."

He added: "We do not know what will happen in Ukraine, but the situation has already demonstrated we face a crisis in European security.

"Moscow has made it clear that it is prepared to contest the fundamental principles that have underpinned our security for decades and to do so while using force.

"I regret to say that this is the new normal in Europe."

Moscow hit back against accusations of inflaming tensions, with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov accusing Nato of “stepping up” military exercises close to its western and southern borders and of pushing “alarmist propaganda”.

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