Zelensky repeats his rejection of negotiations with Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his rejection of negotiations with Russia before a withdrawal of Russian troops from all of his country.

Talks would only be possible if Russia withdraws its soldiers, admits its mistake and there is a new government in Moscow, Zelensky told the British broadcaster Sky News in an interview in both Ukrainian and English broadcast on Thursday.

The president had already banned negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin by decree at the end of September 2022.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Zelensky had long ceased to be a possible opponent for Putin. Voters in Ukraine remembered "with what promises Mr Zelensky was elected president," he said, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

"He has not solved the problem in the Donbass. He has not fulfilled the Minsk agreements. As it turned out, he did not intend to fulfil them. He was preparing for war," Peskov said. The Minsk plan had laid down steps towards peace in eastern Ukraine. Kiev and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of violating it.

During the Sky news interview, Zelensky acknowledged that Ukrainian troops were under pressure in the Zaporizhzhya region in the south of the country as well as in the east.

He added that Russian troops were attacking his country without regard to casualties.

"It's just an extraordinary number. They don't care about it. I mean, they don't count their people ... But from what we have already seen and counted, there are thousands of people dead from their side, and they are just throwing them, and throwing them, and throwing them and throwing them," Zelensky said in Ukrainian.

Earlier, the Ukrainian air defence said it had shot down all Russian drones in a new wave of night-time attacks.

A total of 15 so-called kamikaze drones were intercepted over the capital Kiev alone, the city's military administration announced on Thursday morning.

A 55-year-old man had been killed in Kiev and two other people were injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Pictures showed an impact crater, presumably in an eastern district of the city of 3 million.

In the areas of Odessa and Vinnytsia, there were reports of hits on important infrastructure. In the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, there were problems with electricity and water supply, the authorities said, while calling on people to take the air alert seriously.

In total, the Russian military had directed 24 drones at targets in Ukraine, it said.

The information cannot be independently verified.

On Thursday morning, another nationwide air alert was issued because of a suspected Russian missile attack.

Russia invaded Ukraine just over 11 months ago. Since October, the Russian army has been attacking mainly critical infrastructure with missiles and combat drones.

In the middle of winter, Ukrainians are having to cope with restrictions in the supply of electricity and, in some cases, water and heat.

Peskov said on Thursday Russia believes the West is increasingly making itself a party to the war, following the decision to supply battle tanks to Ukraine.

"Everything the alliance and the capitals [of Europe and the United States] do is perceived in Moscow as direct involvement in the conflict," he said, according to Interfax. This involvement is constantly growing, he added.

Moscow has repeatedly accused the US and the European Union of waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Nevertheless, Russia would not declare war, Peskov said. Russia continues to call the invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation," and its status will not change, he said.

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in its daily intelligence update on Thursday that Russia has likely completed training of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division in Belarus.

London expects Russia to send more troops to Belarus for training, so it can "continue this model to regenerate and prepare units to maintain its force in Ukraine."