Key Points
- Russian shells fell in eastern Ukraine ahead of an expected new offensive.
- Three people were killed in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, authorities said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of decades of aggression towards Moscow and warned that if it wants to attempt to beat Russia on the battlefield it is welcome to try, but the move would bring tragedy for Ukraine.
His remarks came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov prepared for a closed-door foreign ministers' meeting at a Group of 20 (G20) gathering in Indonesia on Friday - the first time Mr Putin's top diplomat will come face-to-face with the most vocal opponents of the invasion of Ukraine since it began in February.
Russian shells fell in eastern Ukraine ahead of an expected new offensive, while three people were killed in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, authorities said.
"We have heard many times that the West wants to fight us to the last Ukrainian," Mr Putin said in televised remarks to parliamentary leaders.
"This is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it seems that everything is heading towards this".
Mr Putin said the West had failed in its attempt to contain Russia, and its sanctions on Moscow had caused difficulties but "not on the scale intended".
Russia did not reject peace talks, but the further the conflict went, the harder it would be to reach agreement, he said.
Ukraine's chief negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed the Russian president's comments.
"There is no 'collective West' plan," he said, blaming only the Russian army "which entered sovereign Ukraine, shelling cities and killing civilians".
Earlier, Kyiv lost one of its main international supporters after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Moscow did not conceal its delight at the political demise of a leader who it has long criticised for arming Kyiv so energetically.
In a phone call made just hours after his resignation, Mr Johnson told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "You're a hero, everybody loves you", a spokesman for Mr Johnson said.
In his nightly video address, Mr Mr Zelenskyy said he was confident of continued support from Britain.
"Britain's support for Ukraine will not change whatever happens in the corridors of power in London. Boris and all our friends in the United Kingdom have assured us of that," Mr Zelenskyy said.
Mr Johnson's resignation comes at a time of domestic turmoil in some other European countries that support Kyiv and doubts about their staying power for what has become a protracted conflict.
Thursday began with Ukraine's defiant raising of its flag on the recaptured Snake Island in the Black Sea, located about 140km south of the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Moscow was quick to respond, its warplanes striking the strategic island shortly afterwards and destroying part of the Ukrainian detachment there, it said.
Snake Island became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the first days of the war. It was also a strategic target, sitting aside shipping lanes near Ukraine's port of Odesa. Source: AAP / EPA
"Let every Russian captain, aboard a ship or a plane, see the Ukrainian flag on Snake Island and let him know that our country will not be broken," Mr Zelenskyy said.
The regional governor of the northeastern city of Kharkiv said late on Thursday three people had been killed and another five wounded after Russian forces shelled the city.
After effectively cementing its total control of the neighbouring Luhansk region, Moscow has made clear it is planning to capture the parts of Donetsk it has not yet seized. Kyiv still controls some large cities.
The mayor of the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk said Russian forces had fired missiles at the city centre in an air strike on Thursday, with at least one person killed and six wounded.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said the missile had damaged six buildings including a hotel and an apartment block in the large industrial hub.
In Kramatorsk, mechanic-turned-soldier Artchk helped shore up defences against imminent Russian attack while nearby, farmer Vasyl Avramenko lamented the loss of crops supplanted by mines.
"Of course we're already prepared. We're ready," Artchk, identifying himself by his 'fighting name', told Reuters.
"It's their (Russians') fantasy to occupy these cities, but they don't expect the level of resistance.
"It's not just the Ukrainian government, it's the people who refuse to accept them."
