After officials said more than 50 civilians trying to evacuate by rail from a neighbouring region were murdered in a missile attack the day before, Ukraine on Saturday urged citizens in the eastern Luhansk region to flee from amassing Russian soldiers.
Air-raid sirens blared over eastern Ukraine, which has been the target of Russian military action in recent weeks following a pullout from areas near Kyiv.
"They are assembling forces for an offensive," said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai in a televised address, urging civilians to leave shelling that he said had increased in recent days.
Russia's invasion, which began on February 24, has displaced over 4 million people, killed or injured thousands, displaced a quarter of the population, and left towns in ruins.
The civilian deaths have sparked a wave of worldwide condemnation, particularly over the deaths in Bucha, which was occupied by Russian forces until last week.
Russia has denied that people are being targeted as part of a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its southern neighbour. This has been criticised by Ukraine and Western nations as a spurious excuse for war.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Saturday in a "display of solidarity" with Ukraine, one day after a missile strike killed dozens of people at a train station in the country's east.
"We are laying out a new package of financial and military aid that is a testament of our commitment to his country's struggle against Russia's barbarous onslaught," Johnson said on Twitter.
A global pledging event for Ukrainian migrants earned 10.1 billion euros ($11 billion) as part of the solidarity campaign, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced in Warsaw.
With thousands of people dead in violence and over 11 million people leaving their homes or the nation, Zelensky claimed the Kramatorsk strike was a new atrocity that demanded Western intervention.
In a video message, he stated, "This is another Russian war crime for which everyone responsible will be held accountable," and he called for "a robust worldwide response to this war crime."
After negotiations with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Zelensky subsequently claimed he was "still ready" to resume talks with Russia to resolve the problem.
President Joe Biden of the United States accused Russia of perpetrating a "horrific massacre" in Kramatorsk, the de facto capital of Ukraine's Donetsk province, while France called the strike a "crime against humanity." According to the most recent official tally, Moscow denied responsibility for the rocket strike on Friday morning, which killed 52 people, including five children, and injured 109 others.
The bombing had been detected in Russia before the missiles had even fallen, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who urged for greater firepower to oppose Moscow's actions.
"I am confident that Ukraine's victory is only a question of time, and I will do all in my power to shorten that time," he continued.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians, but mounting proof of crimes has galvanised Ukraine's EU partners, who have backed a coal embargo and the closure of their ports to Russian boats.
According to the bloc, 30 billion euros in assets belonging to Russian and Belarusian people and enterprises have been frozen.
It also blacklisted Putin’s two adult daughters and more than 200 others as part of its latest sanctions package, according to an official list.
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