UKRAINIAN Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said today that 150 children had been killed and more than 400 schools destroyed since Russia’s invasion three weeks ago.

More than 110 hospitals have also been damaged in air strikes he said, although he provided no evidence to back his assertions.

“Thousands and thousands of civilians” have been killed with many trapped under the rubble of buildings, Mr Reznikov added, a claim which Russia denies.

“This is a state terrorism. That is why [the] Kremlin must be stopped, because it will go further. It will attack other countries,” the politician said.

Mr Reznikov was visiting London where he met Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in a bid to secure more military aid for the fight against Russian forces.

“We greatly appreciate that this year Britain was the first to provide us with serious weapons that have increased our defence capabilities. 

“Your role is special, and your courage and your spirit are in stark contrast with the passivity of some other countries,” he said.

Ukrainian officials have been on diplomatic missions across the world as they seek support including the imposition of a no-fly zone in Ukraine.

So far there has been a reluctance from Western countries who fear that shooting down Russian planes would trigger World War III and possible nuclear annihilation.

Russia’s invasion on February 24 has been described as a “special operation” aimed at denazifying Ukraine and demilitarising the region amid fears of the creeping expansion of Nato.

President Vladimir Putin has insisted on Ukrainian neutrality as a necessary condition for peace, something which his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky appears to have accepted.

But peace talks have failed to make much progress as Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian towns and cities.

Today at least eight people were reportedly killed in a Kiev shopping centre targeted in a Russian air strike.

At least 300,000 are thought to be trapped in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol where fierce fighting has reached the city centre.

Moscow claims that it is battling neonazis from the Azov battalion which it blames for atrocities there, including threatening to kill citizens to prevent them from leaving.