PRESIDENT Zelensky said 16,000 Russian troops were killed as his troops prepared to retake the first city taken by Putin.

In his nighttime address, Ukraine’s leader, 44, said his troops had delivered powerful blows to Moscow’s forces and urged the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the war.

But he vowed that no Ukrainian territory would ever be handed over to tyrant Putin, 69.

It came as Markian Lubkivskyi, a defence ministry adviser in Ukraine, predicted that troops could retake Kherson in the south today.

However, he expressed scepticism about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that his forces will no longer attempt to take the entire country.

“We cannot believe the statements from Moscow because there is still a lot of untruth and lies from that side,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today.

Kherson fell earlier this month, marking Russia’s first significant victory in the war.

And today, President Zelensky told the Doha Forum in Qatar that Russia’s boasting about its nuclear capability is fueling a dangerous arms race.

Officials from the Kremlin said yesterday that their forces will not only focus on “liberating” pro-Moscow separatist regions in eastern Donbas.

However, Sergei Rudskoi, chief of Russia’s armed forces’ Main Operational Directorate, did not rule out further attacks on Ukrainian cities, claiming that the assaults were not planned.

Ukraine is on the verge of a major victory, with British defence officials saying it is now a “realistic possibility” that the towns of Bucha and Irpin will be surrounded by Ukrainian forces.

But, more than a month after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine said talks with Moscow were still “very difficult” and vowed not to back down from its demands.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, stated. “Negotiation is a difficult process.

“The Ukrainian delegation has taken a firm stance and will not back down from its demands.

“First and foremost, we demand a cease-fire, security guarantees, and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”

Ukraine is now littered with the charred remains of downed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as the dead bodies of soldiers, many of whom were teenage conscripts.

As the fighting takes its toll on Russian troops, reports of rage and low morale are emerging.

As he protested the horrific losses among his comrades, one soldier allegedly drove his tank into his commanding officer.

Colonel Yuri Medvedev was taken to the hospital with severe leg injuries following the reported incident.

When a pro-Kremlin newspaper revealed the figure, Russia unintentionally revealed it had lost 10,000 troops.

However, NATO has stated that the figure could be as high as 15,000, with total losses including wounded, captured, or missing totaling up to 40,000.

If the estimate is correct, Russian losses in Ukraine in less than a month now equal those suffered during their ten-year war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.

President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his country to maintain its military defences and not “pause for even a minute.”

In his nightly video address, he urged Ukrainians to “move toward peace, move forward.”

“With every day of our defence, we are getting closer to the peace that we so desperately need,” he said.

“We can’t even pause for a minute, because every minute determines our fate, our future, and whether we will live.”