Ukraine says Russia targeting civilians as missiles hit Kyiv TV tower

Russia is planning a major psychological operation to try to persuade Ukrainians to capitulate, and is targeting civilians with missile strikes in an attempt to demoralise the population, the government in Kyiv said on Tuesday.

The governor, Oleh Synyehubov, has led the defence of the city, which saw off a raid on Sunday by Russian forces trying to seize control. Since Monday the Kremlin has stepped up its bombardment of Kharkiv, home to 1.4 million people, in an apparent shift in tactics.

Rescuers picked through the rubble on Freedom Square, where the regional administration building is located. They retrieved bodies and extracted 10 survivors from the rubble. One of the dead was an Indian student. A child was wounded. Nearby were incinerated cars and giant slabs of masonry.

In the south, Russian forces continued to consolidate their grip. The port city of Mariupol was surrounded by Russian troops, with regular forces in the north and west and separatist rebels to the east. The city was without electricity after multiple rocket attacks.

He posted a video of a blond-haired man in handcuffs wearing a green camouflage jacket, saying he was born in 1997 in the Russian city of Omsk.