‘Historic’ defence of Ukraine is ‘tormenting’ Russian troops, says Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s president says his military is “tormenting” Russian forces and their success in holding off invading troops has been “historically significant”.

Ukraine landed a symbolic blow on Russia by sinking its Moskva missile cruiser on Thursday – a victory which has led to retaliatory strikes on Kyiv.

And while Kharkiv and eastern parts of the country come under renewed bombardment, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that when it comes to bringing about the “restoration of peace… our armed forces are doing it brilliantly.”

“The success of our military on the battlefield is really significant,” he said in a presidential address.

“Historically significant. But not enough to clean our land from the occupiers yet. We’ll beat them more.”

In other developments:
• Germany pledges €1bn in military support for Ukraine
• Ukraine’s prime minister to attend World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington next week, US media reports
• Russia warns West of ‘unpredictable consequences’
• Many of 900 civilians killed around Kyiv region were ‘simply executed’, says police chief

Ukraine says 900 bodies discovered in Kyiv region – live updates

Russia ‘will not be accepted anywhere anymore’

Mr Zelenskyy said his armed forces “are repelling the occupiers’ attacks” and “carrying out counterattacks”.

He added: “They have already tormented – in the true sense of the word – Russian conventional aviation so much that they are forced to use strategic long-range aircraft.”

And he claimed that Russian troops in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have been “looking for anyone who has ever been associated with the Ukrainian army or government agencies”.

“The occupiers think that this will somehow make it easier for them to control the territory. But they are wrong. They deceive themselves,” he said.

“The problem of the occupiers is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russia’s problem is that the entire Ukrainian people does not accept it and will never accept it again. Russia lost Ukraine forever.

“Actually, it lost the whole world. It will not be accepted anywhere anymore.”

Moskva ‘hit by two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles’

Following the sinking of the Russian warship in the Black Sea off Odesa, Moscow said it would increase attacks on Kyiv in response to supposed Ukrainian military “diversions” on its territory.

Ukraine said it had hit the ship with missiles fired from the coast, but Russia claimed the Moskva went down as it was being towed to port in rough seas after an explosion of ammo caused a fire.

The US said it believes the vessel was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs, shared a claim on the Telegram messaging app saying that the ship’s captain, Anton Kuprin, died during an “explosion and fire on board”.

Explosions were heard in Kyiv and other cities after the ship sank. Early on Friday, Russia claimed to have hit a factory in the capital that makes and repairs anti-ship missiles.

Russia ‘shaping operations’ ahead of Donbas push

As well as Kyiv, blasts were heard on Friday in the southern city of Kherson, the eastern city of Kharkiv and in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk.

The Ukrainian capital has gradually displayed some signs of pre-war life after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to focus on a concentrated assault in eastern Ukraine.

But the casualties in the Kyiv region are mounting.

The area’s police chief said the bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered following Russia’s withdrawal – more than 350 of them in Bucha.

Data indicated 95% of them were fatally shot, Andriy Nebytov said.

“People were simply executed in the streets,” he said.

Evacuation efforts have continued across the country and on Friday, a total of 2,864 were able to leave conflict zones, including 363 people from the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukraine claimed.

However, in Kharkiv, seven people were killed and 34 more were wounded during a shelling attack on a residential area, the region’s governor said.

In the southern city of Kakhovka, two civilians died of shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down and five were injured, the area’s local authority claimed.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin is continuing to marshal its forces for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Extra equipment has arrived to the north of the Donbas region and in western Russia, according to a senior US defence official.

The official said Russia was “shaping operations” but that the fresh offensive had not yet begun.

Further south, the besieged city of Mariupol remains contested between defenders and Russian forces.

Russia’s naval forces have also moved further south following the sinking of the Moskva, the US official added.

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