While Ukrainians are being evacuated from cities in the east of the country before an expected major Russian war attack in Ukraine, Russia has presented what appears to be the most serious assessment yet of its military operations in Ukraine, describing the increase in troop casualties and economic damage as a "tragedy."

Russia previously admitted that its attack had not advanced as fast as it wanted, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today lamented the high death toll.

Peskov said, "We have heavy troop casualties. It's a great tragedy for us. "

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Michustin said the country's economy was facing the most difficult situation in three decades because of unprecedented Western sanctions.

Russia says it launched what it describes as a "special military operation" on 24 February to disarm Ukraine "and rid it of Nazi thought," which Kiev and its Western allies reject as a false justification for waging war.

In a symbolic move, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Thursday Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council of the international organization expressing "grave concern about the human rights crisis and the ongoing humanitarian crisis." Russia withdrew from the Council.

Following the new measures announced this week in response to the deaths of civilians in the town of Boucha, widely condemned by the West as war crimes, Ukraine wants allies to stop buying Russian oil and gas amid divisions in Europe over how far energy sanctions must go.

"Now, for the last time, we can teach Russia and any other potential assailants that those who choose war always lose... Those who blackmail Europe with an economic crisis and an energy crisis always lose. "

Two sources told Reuters that it was decided to postpone the European Union's ban on Russian coal purchases until mid - August after pressure from Germany.

Ukraine accused Hungary of undermining the unity of the European Union after Budapest broke with the conglomerate by saying it was willing to pay in ruble for Russian gas, a demand rejected by most of the West.

On the ground, Ukraine says that after withdrawing from the outskirts of Kiev, Russia is reorganizing its forces in an effort to fully control the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which have been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

The besieged coastal city of Mariupol in the south of the country is also a target for Russia. The mayor of Mariupol said that more than 100,000 people were still trapped in the city.