Zelensky says there have been over 1,400 Russian airstrikes this week

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a fresh appeal to the West, urgently requesting more support, after another week when more than 1,400 Russian airstrikes targeted his country.

"Every day, Russia attacks Ukraine with drones, missiles and aerial bombs," he said in statement shared on his Telegram channel on Sunday. Accompanying the statement was a video showing images of death and destruction in Ukrainian cities.

Russia attacked Ukraine with around 50 missiles, nearly 660 drones and more than 760 glide bombs in the past week, he said.

"Russia will not stop on its own. The world must force it to end this brutal and unprovoked aggression," said Zelensky.

"Strengthening our defence is absolutely necessary. We need better protection – air defence systems, long-range weapons and sanctions pressure," he said.

A video published to underline Zelensky's demand showed images of the death and destruction in Ukrainian cities in recent days.

According to the authorities, 15 historic buildings in the centre of the port city of Odessa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were damaged in Russian rocket attacks.

In an update to an attack the previous day, the civil defence force said on Sunday that the number of dead rose to at least 14 after a rocket hit a residential building in Poltava in central Ukraine, with two chidren among the fatalities.

A whole family was wiped out there, said the head of the presidential administration in Kiev, Andriy Yermak.

Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia's full-scale invasion for almost three years.