Ukraine's President Zelenskyy urges civilians in Donetsk to evacuate as war rages

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday angrily denounced a report by Amnesty International stating that Ukraine's military tactics have put civilian lives at risk.

The leading human rights organization said Ukraine's tactic of positioning rocket launchers and missile pads in the vicinity of residential buildings needlessly endangered citizens' lives and violated established rules of war.

"We saw today a completely different report from Amnesty International, which unfortunately tries to amnesty the terrorist state and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

"And if someone makes a report in which the victim and the aggressor are allegedly the same in something, if some data about the victim is analyzed and what the aggressor was doing at that time is ignored, this cannot be tolerated," he added.

The president went on to underline Kyiv's intent to reach out and build ties with African states where he says there is a "surplus of Russian propaganda."

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy took questions from journalists from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.

The tilt comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov toured African states and drummed up support late last month.

Zelenskyy also urged Brussels to expedite the disbursement of funds to the state that enable it to function, something that he says has been mired in red tape.