The invading Russian army has not reached the front lines as planned and has lost 10,000 soldiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky said in a video address, the Ukrainian Ukrinform news agency reports, as quoted by BTA. In his words the invaders have suffered losses such as they have not seen in their most terrible nightmare. Zelensky points out that the armed forces of Ukraine are holding key zones of defence and are counter-attacking the occupiers at Kharkiv, and also they are holding onto Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Donbas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the “special operation” in Ukraine was going according to plan and the work on destroying the Ukrainian military infrastructure had almost been completed, world news agencies report. According to Putin there is no need to impose martial law because that is only done in the event of foreign aggression.

At the same time there are Russians crossing the border into Finland, anxious to get out of Russia because there has been a persistent rumour that President Vladimir Putin's government might soon introduce martial law to deal with demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine, the BBC reports. At Vaalimaa, Finland's border crossing with Russia - 120 miles east of Helsinki - buses and cars stop for passport and customs checks. These aren't Ukrainians, they're Russians, and although the flow isn't heavy, it is constant, the BBC’s correspondent reports.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan is to hold a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin tomorrow, the presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has announced. “This war must stop immediately and there must be a return to the negotiating table,” he said for NTV.