President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian military is throwing everything it has at Ukraine, with most of its combat-ready forces now concentrated in Ukraine and just across the border in Russia. “They have driven almost everyone and everything that is capable of fighting us against Ukraine”, - he said in his nightly video address to the nation.

And despite Russian claims of hitting only military sites, he said they continue to target residential areas and kill civilians.

“The Russian army in this war is writing itself into world history forever as the most barbaric and inhuman army in the world”, - Zelensky said.

He said the situation in Mariupol remains unchanged and is “as tough as possible”, with the Russian military blocking all attempts to establish humanitarian corridors out of the city and “save our people”. He said the Kremlin has not responded to a proposal to exchange Viktor Medvedchuk, the jailed leader of a pro-Russia party, for the Mariupol defenders.

Zelensky appealed to West to supply promised weapons as quickly as possible: “If we receive now what some of our partners plan to give Ukraine in the coming weeks, it could save the lives of thousands and thousands of people”.