Ukraine’s president urged the UN Security Council on Tuesday to take immediate action against Moscow, calling for “accountability” for atrocities against civilians, as fears grow that Russia is preparing new offensives to seize territory in the east and south.

People “were killed in their apartments, houses... civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road”, Volodymyr Zelensky said in a somber video message to the UN council in New York.

“Accountability must be inevitable”, - he said, while calling for Russia’s exclusion from the Security Council after six weeks of heavy bombardments of Ukraine.

“Are you ready to close the UN? And the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately”, - he said.