This isn’t a film says Zelensky as he admits to slow progress

The comments come as President Putin warns his new ‘Satan’ nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles would ‘soon’ be deployed for combat duty.

Ukrainian servicemen fire multiple rocket launchers towards Russian positions at a front line near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

President Zelensky has conceded that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is progressing “slower than desired” but maintained that Kyiv must be allowed to pursue its battle plan as it sees fit.

“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now,” he told the BBC in an interview timed to coincide with the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. “It’s not. What’s at stake is people’s lives.”

His comments came as the Kremlin said it had shot down three Ukrainian drones 30 miles from Moscow using electronic warfare equipment and President Putin announced that new “Satan” nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles would “soon” be deployed for combat duty. Ukraine’s armed forces have so far committed three of about 12 armoured brigades readied for the assault in the country’s south and east, at least nine of which have received western equipment and training.

The force has spent the past two weeks driving Russia’s army from eight villages in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia has heavily mined huge swathes of Ukrainian territory as part of a fortified defence network several layers deep. Ukraine’s commanders have largely limited themselves to slow, methodical attacks in an effort to prevent loss of life.

“Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” Zelensky said. Ukrainian commanders have been probing Russian lines for weakness and gradually increasing pressure in an effort to draw out Russian tank reserves and artillery, which it can then destroy with western supplied Himars missiles systems and precision artillery.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech via videolink on the first day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

Meanwhile Ukrainian jets have been launching British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian logistics hubs deep inside occupied territory, including an enormous ammunition dump in the village of Rykove that exploded on Sunday.

However, the Ukrainian air force can field only a limited number of Soviet-era jets against a far superior Russian air force, hampering progress.

Instead, Kyiv has sought to develop domestic drones that can turn the tide in its favour, and can be used against military targets across the border without the restrictions on hitting Russia that come with western weapons.

An official with the state arms manufacturer, Ukroboronprom, said that Ukraine had successfully tested a new drone with a range of 1,000km. Nataliia Sad posted a selfie of the event with General Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, General Oleshchuk, commander for the air force, and Yurii Husev, head of Ukroboronprom, but did not say when it took place.

Three long-range Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russia this morning, the Kremlin said, in an apparent proof of those capabilities.

“An attempt today by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by three aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles on facilities in the Moscow region was thwarted,” the Russian defence ministry said. No one was injured by the drones, which were brought down 50km southwest of Moscow as they approached a military base.

Russia's monster nuclear missile Sarmat - also known as ‘Satan’.

Russia has imported hundreds of Iranian Shahed-136 suicide drones, since October, launching them in swarms at Ukrainian cities in an effort to terrorise their populations.

After the first such strike, Ukrainian comedian Serhiy Prytula started a “revenge” fundraiser to buy drones that could hit Russian territory, while Ukrboronprom announced it was developing a 75kg “kamikaze” drone.

- Clearing the landmines in Ukraine will be comparable to clearing Europe of explosives after the Second World War, the United Nations has warned.

Paul Heslop, of the UN Development Programme, said that up to dollars 300 million a year would be needed for de- mining efforts over the next five years. So far about dollars 35 million has been received this year.

THE TIMES