KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed "brave" Ukraine on the 500th day of Russia's war on Saturday, as the fight's toll mounted with eight deaths reported in Russian rocket fire.
Zelensky published on social media an undated video clip of a visit to Snake Island in the Black Sea -- a symbol of Ukraine's defiance against Russia.
"Today we are on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupiers, like the whole of Ukraine, because we are the country of the brave," he said.
"I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," he said in the video, which showed him arriving on the island by boat and leaving flowers.
Finishing a trip to Türkiye on Saturday, Zelensky prayed for the victims of the war alongside Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, after a regional tour to drum up support ahead of next week's Nato summit.
The UN has documented 9,000 civilian deaths since the start of the war on February 24, 2022, including 500 children, although it estimates the real toll could be significantly higher.
That toll went up again on Saturday as Ukraine's interior ministry said eight people were killed and 13 injured by Russian rocket fire in the eastern town of Lyman.
"At around 10:00 am, the Russians struck the town with multiple rocket launchers," Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
Noel Calhoun, deputy head of the UN's Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said the 500th day of the conflict marked "another grim milestone in the war that continues to exact a horrific toll on Ukraine's civilians".
In Türkiye, Zelensky secured backing for his country's Nato aspirations after winning a US pledge for cluster munitions that could inflict significant damage on Russian forces on the battlefield.
Erdogan risked drawing Russia's ire by delivering unequivocal support for Ukraine's Nato aspiration.
"There is no doubt that Ukraine deserves membership of Nato," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.
Erdogan also said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next month on what would be the Kremlin chief's first visit to Türkiye since the dispute.
The Turkish leader said he and Putin will discuss possible prisoner swaps, as well as a potential extension of a deal brokered last year under which Ukraine was able to ship grain to the global market.
The agreement will expire on July 17 unless Russia agrees to its renewal. — AFP
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