Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a defiant tone in his nightly video address on Friday, insisting "Donbas will be Ukrainian."

"If the occupiers think that Lyman or Severodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong,'' he said.

Russian forces captured the eastern city of Lyman, the Donetsk region's large railway hub on Friday.

US President Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of working to eradicate Ukrainian identity. "Not only is he trying to take over Ukraine, he's literally trying to wipe out the culture and identity of the Ukrainian people. Attacking schools, nurseries, hospitals, museums, with no other purpose than to eliminate a culture," he said.