Ukraine’s president has claimed nearly 9,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion of his country began a week ago.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy told invading forces to “go home” and warned: “Wherever they go, they will be destroyed.”
In a video early on Thursday, he said: “They will not have calm here, they will not have food, they will not have a quiet moment.
“The occupiers will receive only one thing from Ukrainians: resistance. Fierce resistance. Such resistance that they will forever remember that we don’t give up what is ours, that they will remember what a patriotic war is.”
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It comes as Russian troops reached the center of Kherson amid conflicting claims over whether Moscow had captured its first major city.
Its mayor said invading forces were in control and that no Ukrainian troops were present, but the UK said today that the military situation was “unclear”.
Meanwhile, a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian vehicles heading towards the capital Kyiv is said to have virtually ground to a halt.
It remains about 18 miles (30 km) from the center of the city after being delayed by “staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion”, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
In key developments:
• One million people have now fled Ukraine, says UN refugee commissioner
• A second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is expected later
• Russia says 498 of its soldiers have been killed and 1,597 wounded
, Paralympic bosses make U-turn and ban Russian and Belarusian athletes
, Five children among those detained in Moscow for laying flowers at Ukraine embassy
Invaders are ‘confused children’ not ‘warriors’
Russian troops continue to face stiff resistance across Ukraine and have yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv, where the feared major assault has not yet begun.
In his video message, President Zelenskyy praised the fortitude of his fellow Ukrainians.
“We are a people who broke the enemy’s plans in a week,” he said.
“These plans had taken years to write – they are meant, with hatred for our country, for our people.”
Kyiv is still under government control, with the feared major attack yet to materialize. Pic: Associated Press
The president said Russian soldiers were “not warriors of a superpower” but “confused children who have been used”.
“Ukraine doesn’t want to be covered by the dead bodies of soldiers,” he added.
“Go home. With your whole army. Tell your officers that you want to live, that you don’t want to die but to live.
“We need to stop the war and restore peace as soon as possible.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, attacks on the second-largest city of Kharkiv have been continuing and the Russians have been shelling Izyum, about 75 miles southeast.
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The port city of Mariupol is surrounded by Russian forces after coming under heavy shelling in recent days but remains in Ukrainian control, officials said on Thursday.
Pro-Moscow rebels have threatened to launch targeted strikes there unless government forces surrender.
Kharkiv and Chernihiv are also still in Ukrainian hands, the UK Ministry of Defense said this morning.
In Kyiv, the central rail station was rocked by an explosion on Wednesday evening as thousands of civilians were trying to flee.
It was caused by the wreckage of a shot-down Russian cruise missile hitting a heating pipe, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry. There were no reports of casualties.
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Several loud explosions were also reported in Kyiv in the early hours, though the target of the blasts remains unclear
A major assault on the city of three million was believed to be imminent but appears to have been delayed after the nearby Russian convoy stalled.
Food and fuel shortages, as well as Ukrainian resistance, has plagued the huge line of military vehicles, according to a US defense official, echoing the UK assessment.
British diplomatic efforts continue later with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Lithuania to meet foreign ministers from that country, as well as from Estonia and Latvia.
Ms Truss will also meet UK military personnel from the Army Air Corps and the RAF’s 18 Squadron, who are deployed in the country.
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