Russia fires hypersonic missiles as Ukraine presses for peace deal

Russia on Saturday admitted using advanced hypersonic missiles for the first time in the Ukraine conflict as Kyiv's embattled leader  Volodymyr Zelensky called for urgent peace talks.

Moscow also said its troops had broken Ukrainian defences to enter the strategic southern port city of Mariupol and destroyed radio and intelligence sites just outside Odessa.

Ukrainian authorities said they had "temporarily" lost access to the Sea of Azov although Russia has effectively controlled the coastline for weeks after ringing Mariupol.

Russia said it had on Friday used the Kinzhal (Dagger) high-precision hypersonic missile, which can elude most defence systems, to destroy an arms depot in Deliatyn, a village near the border with Romania.

Moscow has never admitted using the state-of-the-art missile in combat before.

"The enemy targeted our depots" but "we have no information of the type of missile," Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat said.

"There has been damage, destruction and the detonation of munitions," he said. "They are using all the missiles in their arsenal against us."

Meanwhile Ukraine's leader once again appealed for peace.

"This is the time to meet, to talk, time for renewing territorial integrity and fairness for Ukraine," Zelensky said in a Facebook video.

"Otherwise, Russia's losses will be such that several generations will not recover."

Ukraine claimed Saturday that a Russian general had been killed by strikes on an airfield outside Kherson, just north of Crimea, saying he was the fifth top-ranking officer killed since the invasion began on February 24.

A US official said Russia's offensive remains largely stalled overall, with troops about 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of the capital Kyiv and facing heavy resistance.

Britain's defence ministry said Russia was struggling to provide its forward troops "with even basic essentials such as food and fuel" because of Ukrainian attacks on their supply lines.