Zelensky appeals to Russian public, says soldiers' bodies piling up

Evoking imagery of the 14,000 Russians he says have died in the invasion of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the Russian public in a video message early on Sunday.

"At the flashpoints of particularly heavy fighting, our front lines of defence are practically littered with Russian soldiers' corpses," he said. "And these corpses, these bodies are not being retrieved by anyone."

He said he could understand that Russia has almost endless reserves of soldiers and military equipment.

"But I would like to know from the citizens of Russia - what has happened to you over the years that you haven't noticed your losses?"

Zelensky repeated that 14,000 Russian soldiers have died so far.

Unverified figures

"That's 14,000 mothers, 14,000 fathers, wives, children, relatives, friends - and you don't notice?"

The Ukrainian count of how many Russian soldiers have died cannot be independently verified. Nor can the count of Ukraine's own military losses, which the country's leaders put at about 1,300 soldiers around a week ago.

Moscow has so far only confirmed around 500 casualties among its own forces.