Zelensky mourns deaths in Sloviansk: 'No hour without terror'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered his condolences to the relatives of several civilians killed by a Russian missile strike in the city of Sloviansk.

There has not been "a single hour without Russian killings and terror" this week, Zelensky said in a video address on Friday evening.

"This is an evil state, and it will lose. To win is our duty to humanity as such. And we will win!"

In the afternoon, according to Ukrainian sources, a Russian missile hit Sloviansk in the heavily contested Donetsk region, damaging several high-rise buildings. In the evening, there was talk of at least nine dead and more than 20 injured.

Military Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also reported the destruction of several high-rise buildings.

The information could not be verified by independent sources at first.

The fiercest fighting is raging in Donetsk more than a year after the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of its neighbouring country.

The fighting is currently particularly heavy in the city of Bakhmut, south-east of Sloviansk. For months, Russian troops have been trying to take the city in the east of Ukraine, which once had 70,000 inhabitants, in extremely costly battles. Today, only a few thousand people live there.

In view of the situation in Donetsk, Zelensky thanked all Ukrainian soldiers who were defending the country. The key to success, he said, was "the continuous destruction of the occupiers." Especially in the city of Bakhmut, south-east of Sloviansk, the Ukrainian army is under great pressure after months of fighting.

Ukrainian defences are still holding the western districts of Bakhmut, according to British analysts, but they are coming under increasngly heavy fire.

The area has been exposed to "particularly heavy Russian artillery fire" in the past 48 hours, the Ministry of Defence said in its Friday update.

It attributed this to better coordination between the forces of the Russian Defence Ministry and Russian mercenary group Wagner.

In the centre of the city, Wagner assault groups continued to conduct the main advance, while Russian airborne troops (VDV) had relieved some Wagner units securing the northern and southern flanks of the operation, according to the update.

The situation in Bakhmut has escalated in recent days, according to both sides of the conflict.

After months of fighting with heavy losses, Russian forces have recently gained terrain and captured about 80% of the city, according to Moscow.

Despite these difficulties, Kiev continues to insist it is not prepared to give up the city, which is now almost completely destroyed. Ukraine is forcing the Russian attackers to launch attacks that are leading to heavy losses, wearing down Moscow's troops.

Ukraine and Russia have once again exchanged the bodies of soldiers killed in the armed conflict.

"Ukraine brought back the bodies of 82 fallen soldiers," the ministry in Kiev said on Telegram on Friday.

How many soldiers' bodies were returned to Russia was not disclosed, and a statement from Moscow is still pending.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine almost 14 months ago, around 800 bodies have been turned over to Ukraine, according to authorities.

Ukraine is comprehensively investigating a video allegedly showing the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian fighters, according to Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.

"At the moment, all investigative agencies of Ukraine, our entire intelligence service are working hard to accurately identify the perpetrator and the victim," Kostin said on Friday during a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

He said he could not yet confirm the authenticity of the recording. "As soon as we can clarify this definitively, we will publish this information immediately," he said, according to the BNS news agency.

The video emerged on social networks earlier in the week showing a uniformed man being beheaded by another. The perpetrator wears a white marking on his clothing that is typical for Russian soldiers. The scenes shown caused international outrage.

According to Kostin, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are investigating some 77,000 cases of alleged Russian war crimes in the country.

"Courts have already handed down 30 verdicts," he said. In addition, he said, 20 other countries also have their own national investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Russia, men can be drafted into the military more easily with immediate effect after President Vladimir Putin signed the necessary amendments to the law on Friday.

In future, conscription notices no longer have to be handed over in person, but can be delivered electronically. Conscripts registered online will no longer be allowed to leave Russia until they present themselves to the army.

The parliament in Moscow passed the law in a snap vote on Wednesday. Some deputies complained that they had not had time to read the more than 50 pages of the law properly.