The Ukrainian Presidency has said that more than 40 soldiers have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and a few dozen injured.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser in the President’s Office, said that in addition to the military casualties, “as far as I know, at the moment there are a few civilian deaths — up to ten.”
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said it has shot down a sixth Russian plane, this time in the Kramatorsk area.
The update follows a claim earlier Thursday that it had shot down five aircraft and a helicopter as Russian forces attacked Ukraine.
The Russian military denied the claims, according to state news agency TASS.
In a broadcast earlier today, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia has attacked Ukraine in a “cunning way,” acting much the same as Hitler did in the Second World War..
Russia is on a “path of evil,” Zelensky said.
He called for “everyone who is able” to join the military to do so and called on all veterans to come forward..
Zelensky added that the Ukrainian military are engaged in “heavy fighting fending off attacks in Donbas in the east in the north and in the south.”
“The enemy has sustained heavy casualties and they will be even heavier … they came to our land,” he warned.