Zelensky says Ukraine achieving 'results' in northeast

Kyiv: Ukrainian troops are achieving tangible results against Russian forces in the hotspot northeastern Kharkiv region but the frontline situation...

Kyiv: Ukrainian troops are achieving "tangible" results against Russian forces in the hotspot northeastern Kharkiv region but the frontline situation is "extremely difficult" elsewhere, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

Russia launched a fresh assault on Kharkiv on May 10 and has since captured several small settlements in its biggest advance in 18 months.

Moscow on Tuesday also began nuclear weapons drills close to Ukraine in what it said was a response to Western "threats", after Kyiv appealed to allies to down Russian missiles from their own territory.

"In the Kharkiv region, our forces are destroying the occupier, the results are tangible," Zelensky said in his evening address.

But he warned the situation on the eastern front near the cities of Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and Kurakhove remained "extremely difficult".