Zelensky rebukes West as Russia closes in on key Ukraine city

Fierce battles raged in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, with Russian troops on the verge of encircling a key industrial city, as President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a bitter rebuke of the West for not doing enough to help Kyiv win the war.

Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday described fighting outside of the industrial city of Severodonetsk, a key military goal for Russia, as "very difficult," saying Russian troops were shelling the city from the outskirts with mortars.

Earlier in the day, addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Dmytro Kuleba compared the battle for Donbass to the epic battles fought in World War II and said his country "badly" needs multiple launch rocket systems to match Russian firepower.

In Kyiv, Zelensky echoed that plea.

"We need the help of our partners -- above all, weapons for Ukraine. Full help, without exceptions, without limits, enough to win," Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation.

And he called out the international community for paying too much attention to Russia's interests and too little to Ukraine's.

The Ukrainian president blasted a recent New York Times editorial and other similar statements by influential Western figures suggesting that Ukraine might have to sacrifice some territory to end the conflict.