According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, 137 Ukrainian militaries have been killed and 316 have been injured in the last 24 hours.

"Regretfully, according to preliminary estimates, we lost 137 our heroes today, including 10 officers. 316 were injured," he made the remarks in a video message to Ukrainians that was released on his Telegram account.

In addition, Zelensky announced that Kyiv had lost control of Snake Island in the Black Sea. According to him, all Ukrainian forces stationed on the island were killed.

Ukraine has lost control of Snake Island, which is located in the Black Sea near the border with Romania, according to Ukraine's state border guards agency on Thursday.

The agency stated that it had lost touch with Ukrainian border guards and personnel stationed on the island, which is part of Ukraine's administrative province of Odesa.

Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island, is located about 35 kilometers off the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, in the Danube Delta.

It was crucial during the International Court of Justice's hearings on Ukraine's and Romania's territorial dispute.

In a televised address on Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics, he had decided to launch a special military operation to protect people "who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years."

The Russian president emphasized that Moscow has no intention of invading Ukrainian territory.