Ukraine’s President Zelensky says Russia ‘destroying all life’ as Kyiv captures ‘dozens’ of towns

Kyiv’s army is carrying out a “fast and powerful” advance in Ukraine to push back the Russian forces in country’s south, recapturing “dozens of settlements” absorbed by Moscow’s illegal annexation, President Volodymr Zelensky has claimed.

In his late night address on Tuesday, Ukraine’s leader applauded his soldiers for taking back swathes of land in Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk, the latter two of which president Vladimir Putin signed a law to formally annex on Wednesday morning, in defiance of international law.

But he said it had come at a high cost.