Vladimir Putin's 'toxic' inner circle turns on President as Russia devastated by nightly drone and missile blitz

Vladimir Putin's "toxic" inner circle has turned on the Russian leader after Ukraine's nightly drone and missile strikes on his country, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

The Ukrainian President said his long-range strikes inside Russia have led key allies to signal it is time to end the war.

Mr Zelensky's remarks follows reports Russia has lost 7,000 troops a week, with the frontlines struggling to be replenished.

He said: "The situation on the front, together with our long-range and mid-range strikes, is creating a new atmosphere around Putin. A very toxic atmosphere.

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"He alone is the reason this war began and hasn't ended. Putin alone is responsible for the losses Russians continue to suffer.

"His retinue understands this - they are signaling it to us and to our partners.

"Russian society is beginning to feel it more and more as well. We need decisions to bring about peace."

Mr Zelensky spoke to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about resuming negotiations with Russia and is set to fly to Washington next week for talks with Donald Trump.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian logistics facilities - with a warehouse in Leningrad belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, on fire by Friday morning, according to Governor Alexander Drozdenko.

At least three people were injured, and work at two logistics sites have now been halted, he added.

Ukraine struck four Wildberries warehouses earlier this week on the basis the company supports the Russian military infrastructure - claims Moscow has denied.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also said water supplies which support the nuclear power station in Russian-held Zaporizhzhia had been struck as a result of military activity.

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The nuclear facility is supplied by groundwater wells, but the situation highlights the "the need for staff to be able to perform their duties without undue pressure", Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Kremlin counterpart Sergei Lavrov and discussed "the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war" at the Asean Conference in the Philippines on Thursday, according to a US Department of State spokesman.

But the mood soured in the meeting room when Mr Lavrov dodged questions on whether Russia had helped Iran target US troops.

When asked exactly that by a reporter, he simply replied: "Nice hairstyle."

The White House has piled pressure on Moscow to make a peace deal, with Mr Trump declaring one is "closer than people realise" earlier this month.

But multiple Kremlin sources said Mr Putin was instead more likely to escalate the war than make peace.

The Ukrainian President's statement came after he fired his commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and offered a job to Mykhailo Fedorov, whose firing as Defence Minister led to protests across Ukraine.

But Mr Fedorov turned down the new roles in Mr Zelensky's administration, insisting he is handed his previous role.

Mr Zelensky has since appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular general and ally to Mr Fedorov, as his new commander-in-chief.

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