Russia to continue Ukraine operation until goals achieved, says minister

Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine until it achieves its goals, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

Shoigu said Moscow's main goal was protecting itself from threats created by the West and said Russia was not occupying Ukraine's territory.

Russian forces struck cities in eastern Ukraine and massed armoured vehicles and artillery near the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, as Western powers promised further sanctions to bring down Russia's economy.

On the sixth day of Russia's invasion, officials in Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, said the Russian army had shelled the local administration building.

An AFP reporter saw the windows of the building were blown out and there was rubble all around it.

Local authorities in Mariupol on the Azov Sea also said their city was without power after bombing.

In Kherson on the Black Sea, Russian army checkpoints were reported at city entry points.

"The mask has finally dropped. Russia is actively shelling city centres, directing missiles and shells directly at residential areas and government buildings," an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter.

(With agency inputs)

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