Ukraine Russia latest: Volodymyr Zelensky visits ‘brave men’ on front line

The prime minister has warned Britons that “we need to steel ourselves for a long war” in Ukraine on his return from the nation’s capital.

After visiting Kyiv, Boris Johnson said that Vladimir Putin’s invasion is “entering a new phase” and if Russian advances were successful he “would not stop at dismembering Ukraine”.

Writing in The Times, Mr Johnson also outlined a four-point plan on how the UK and its allies can best support Ukraine.

He wrote: “I am afraid that we need to steel ourselves for a long war, as Putin resorts to a campaign of attrition, trying to grind down Ukraine by sheer brutality.

“The UK and our friends must respond by ensuring that Ukraine has the strategic endurance to survive and eventually prevail.”

“Everything will depend on whether Ukraine can strengthen its ability to defend its soil faster than Russia can renew its capacity to attack,” he added.

“Our task is to enlist time on Ukraine’s side.”

Looking beyond the invasion, he warned that if Russia is successful in securing territory in Ukraine “no nation anywhere would be safe” because “every dictator would feel emboldened to pursue their own ambitions by force”.

Russia is sending a large number of reserve troops to Sievierodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the frontline eastern city, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region said on Saturday.

“Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have … because there are so many of them there already, they’re at critical mass,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said on national television.

He said Russian forces already controlled most but not all of Sievierodonetsk.

Hundreds of mourners have gathered in Ukraine‘s capital for a well-known Kyiv activist who was killed after taking up arms against Russian invaders.

The 24-year-old Roman Ratushnyi had been a teenage protester during months of demonstrations that toppled Ukraine‘s pro-Russian leader in 2014.

He was also known as an environmental campaigner in Kyiv who led a fight to preserve a wooded park from development.

Russia has not been “squeaky clean” in the war with Ukraine and is “not ashamed of it”, claims the country’s foreign minister.

Volodymyr Zelensky has been visiting troops Mykolaiv region of Ukraine to issue them with medals and certificates of merit for their services.

Ukraine‘s defence intelligence directorate said on Saturday that five Ukrainian civilians had been returned in a five-for-five prisoner swap with Russia. It did not say whether the exchanged Russians were combatants.

The directorate said four of the five Ukrainian civilians had been taken prisoner during Russia’s occupation of parts of Kyiv region, from where Russian forces withdrew at the end of March.

It also said the dead body of a Ukrainian civilian was recovered in the exchange.

Here are some more images from Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Mykolaiv:

Boris Johnson has said the West must continue to support the Ukrainians as they seek to recover territory seized by Russia, saying it would a “catastrophe” if President Vladimir Putin was able to claim victory.

Seventy-seven miners were rescued on Saturday after being trapped underground during a power outage and shelling of territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, local officials said.

The miners were underground when power was lost in the Zasyadko coal mine in Ukraine‘s Donetsk region but all were now safe and no-one was injured, according to a statement by local separatist officials.

In other news, Britons who have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees are facing a postcode lottery over how quickly they get their monthly £350 “thank you” payment from the UK government, according to charity.