“It’s like hell there,” said president Volodymyr Zelensky in a bitter diatribe against Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s Donbas on Thursday, which had left the region “completely destroyed”.

Mr Zelensky accused Moscow of carrying out “brutal” and “senseless” attacks as it intensified its offensive in the country’s east following the withdrawal of its troops from the around the country’s capital, Kyiv.

Allegations of genocide were also repeated by the Ukrainain president, accusing Vladimir Putin’s forces of attempting to kill as many Ukrainians and do as much damage as possible.

He said that while Ukrainian forces were continuing to liberate the Kharkiv region to the east of Kyiv, Russia was trying to exert even more pressure in the Donbas, which lies in the southeastern part of Ukraine.