Mr Zelensky has requested more help from European countries and said they still need more weapons to help them fight the war. Russian forces were bombarding Kharkiv, and they had taken territory in the east and south as far as Kherson, and surrounded the port city of Mariupol. The city of Bakhmut, which has endured some of the heaviest fighting of the war, has been under Russian control for several months and, although Ukraine gained some ground in the surrounding areas over the summer, the battles continue.

• In Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border and just 80km (50 miles) from the now war-torn city of Kharkiv, local people are now used to convoys of military trucks roaring towards the front line.
• Heres where Ukraine has mounted multiple attacks this week in the apparent beginning of its long-planned counteroffensive.
• If I watched different channels, I would probably have a different opinion, but I dont watch them, she said.

Some see even the most persecuted Russian activists as cowards, because the risk they face for resisting President Putin is nothing compared to being bombarded by his military. Ukrainians have no sympathy with those now protesting against the draft, if those same people did not come out against the killing of Ukrainian civilians. Since we spoke, Vladimir Putin has declared a partial mobilisation of Russian reservists - the first real test of support for his invasion. When Russia invaded its neighbour, she was serving a suspended sentence and one wrong move, even an anti-war comment, could have put her behind bars. The move has raised concerns among Russian opposition activists already abroad. "What this means, in short, is that the presumption against the use of force - which was the basis for the post-WWII world order, for anything other than defence - has been lost.

Ukraine: What happens next?

But clashes have also been taking place around Kyiv and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol. There have also been reports of troops landing by sea at the Black Sea port cities of Mariupol and Odesa in the south. Russian military convoys have crossed from Belarus into Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, and from Russia into the Sumy region, which is also in the north, Ukraine's border guard service (DPSU) said.