Russia gave the most sombre assessment so far of its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, describing the "tragedy" of mounting troop losses and the economic hit on the country from sanctions, as Ukrainians were evacuated from eastern cities before an anticipated major offensive.
Moscow's has seen more than four million people flee abroad, killed or injured thousands, turned cities into rubble and led to on Russian leaders and companies.
In a symbolic move, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, expressing "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis." Russia then quit the council.
Moscow has previously acknowledged its attack has not progressed as quickly as it wanted, but on Thursday Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov lamented the rising death toll.
"We have significant losses of troops," he told UK broadcaster Sky News. "It's a huge tragedy for us."
Russia is facing its most difficult economic situation for three decades due to unprecedented Western sanctions, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said. The US Congress removed its "most favoured nation" trade status on Thursday in a further blow to Russia.
Russia says it launched what it calls a "special military operation" on 24 February to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject that as a false pretext.
Following new restrictions after the killing of civilians in the town of Bucha that were widely , Ukraine called on allies to stop buying Russian oil and gas, amid divisions in Europe, and to boost it militarily.
"Ukraine needs weapons which will give it the means to win on the battlefield and that will be the strongest possible sanction against Russia," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video late on Thursday.
He also warned the destruction in Borodyanka was "much more horrific" than in nearby Bucha — where Western nations accuse Moscow's forces of committing war crimes — without citing any evidence.
Video from Borodyanka showed search and rescue teams using heavy equipment to dig through the rubble of a building that had collapsed. Hundreds of people were feared buried.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians and says images of bodies in Bucha were staged to justify more sanctions against Moscow and derail peace negotiations.
A Ukrainian serviceman walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, 6 April 2022. Source: AP / Felipe Dana
Ukraine accused Hungary of undermining EU unity after Budapest said it was prepared to pay roubles for Russian gas, a Kremlin demand that most in the West had resisted.
On the battlefield, Ukraine says after withdrawing from Kyiv's outskirts, Russia is regrouping to try to gain full control over the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been partly held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
The besieged southern port of Mariupol, where the mayor said over 100,000 people were still trapped, was also a target.
"Evacuate! The chances of saving yourself and your family from Russian death are dwindling every day," Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said.
Authorities in Dnipro, a city in central-eastern Ukraine, also urged women, children and the elderly to leave.
Trading accusations
Both sides continued to trade accusations, with Moscow opening a criminal investigation into a Russian soldier's allegations that he was beaten and threatened with death while being held in Ukraine as a prisoner of war.
Separately, a social media video verified by news agency Reuters and geolocated to an area west of Kyiv appears to show Ukrainian forces shooting and killing a captured and badly wounded Russian soldier.
Servicemen walk near a damaged school, next to a police building in Kramatorsk, Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Source: Getty / Fadel Senna / AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine has received about 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons systems from the United States and its allies, the top US general, Army General Mark Milley, said, and Washington is looking into what new support it could send.
In a video address posted on YouTube, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov made a plea for heavier, more modern weapons as Russia concentrated its forces for a powerful attack.
He said Russia has “drawn conclusions and changed tactics” and is now focusing on long-range strikes from the air.
As a result, Ukraine needs air defence systems, long-range artillery, tanks and anti-ship missiles, Mr Reznikov said.
Ukrainians arrive at the Odesa railway station from the south, Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia, and also from the Donbas region, some cities near Donetsk that fear an escalation of the Russian offensive. Credit: Global Media Group/Sipa USA
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a draft peace deal from Kyiv contained "unacceptable" elements and deviated from previously-agreed proposals.
Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters Mr Lavrov was not directly involved in negotiations and his statements were "of purely propagandistic significance" aimed at diverting attention from killings in Bucha.
Since Russian troops pulled back last week, Ukrainian officials have said hundreds of civilians have been found dead.
Bucha's mayor has said dozens were the victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops. Reuters could not independently verify those figures.
Accounts by at least a dozen residents of one apartment complex in Bucha painted a picture of violence and intimidation by Russian soldiers.
The mutilated bodies of one resident of the complex and another local were discovered in a stairwell.
With AFP.
