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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that 14,000 people had died in fighting in Ukraine’s east since 2014.
Before Russia’s February 24 invasion, Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukraine in the Donbas region since 2014, the same year the Kremlin seized Crimea.
Mr Zelenskyy said that the world’s lack of response to that conflict implied to Russia that “they can afford this large-scale war".
He said the Donbas has been a focus for Russia and now “troops are destroying it as if they wanted only stones left, without any people at all".
“These 50 days showed me world leaders in a different way," Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Instagram.
"The countries are different. I have seen great generosity from those who are not rich themselves. I have seen extraordinary determination by those who world leaders usually didn’t take seriously.
"I have seen that the democratic world has indeed those whose will is enough to defend freedom from attacks of tyranny."
He also had words of praise for his people, "those who showed that Russian ships can only sink to the bottom".
He said that during the 50 days of war, "Ukraine became a hero for the whole free world and for those who have the courage to call a spade a spade. For those who are not poisoned by propaganda.
"You have all become heroes. All Ukrainian men and women who withstood and do not give up. And who will win. Who will return peace to Ukraine. I'm sure of it," Mr Zelenskyy said.
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Ukrainian Nicolai, 41, says goodbye to his daughter Elina, 4, and his wife Lolita, on a train bound for Poland fleeing from the war at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo -
A damaged Russian artillery tank is seen, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Trostianets, Sumy region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Oksana Kolesnikova cries during the funeral of her son Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, a territorial defense soldier who was killed by Russian soldiers in Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
US actor and director Liev Schreiber prepares meals in the kitchen of the 'World Central Kitchen', for war refugees from Ukraine staying in Przemysl, Poland. EPA -
A Ukrainian boy musician plays his sax to entertain citizens in a square, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Dinipro, Ukraine. Reuters -
The turret of a destroyed tank near the village of Zalissya, north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
An unexploded shell in a field in Teterivka, near Kyiv. Reuters -
A building damaged during fighting in Mariupol, which is holding out against the Russian invasion. AP Photo -
A soldier from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic during fighting in Mariupol. AP Photo -
A tank destroyed in the village of Termakhivka, Kyiv region. Reuters -
The main station in Dnipro, central Ukraine, where a city official said the remains of more than 1,500 Russian soldiers were being kept in its morgues. AFP -
A torn Ukrainian flag hangs in front a damaged apartment building in Mariupol. Reuters -
A Ukrainian child seeking asylum in the US is driven on a bus to the border from Tijuana, Mexico. Reuters -
Brothers in arms of serviceman Taras Bobanych, who was killed during the fighting with Russia, carry his portrait and coffin at his funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP -
From left to right; Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Latvian President Egils Levits and Estonian President Alar Karis pose for a picture before a meeting in Kyiv. Reuters -
Local residents shelter in the basement of a residential building amid shelling in Lysychansk, in the Luhansk region. AFP -
Local residents view a destroyed car next to a multi-storey building in Lysychansk. AFP -
Ukrainian artillery shells Russian troops' position on the front line near Lysychansk. AFP -
Natalya Verbova, 49, and her son attend the funeral of her husband Andriy Verbovyi, 55, who was killed by Russian soldiers while defending Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
The father and a friend of Anatoliy Kolesnikov, 30, who was killed by Russian soldiers in his car trying to leave Irpin, mourn his death outside the morgue in Bucha. AP -
Pedestrians walk past artwork by the LBWS street art collective on a street in Odesa. AFP -
Engineers inspect damage to the bridge that connects Kyiv with Irpin. AP -
The mark of a shell is seen on a street in Irpin. AP -
A boy shows the shell of a bullet in Bucha. AP -
Cemetery worker Artem, exhausted, looks at the sky while working on the grave of Andriy Verbovyi, who was killed by Russian soldiers while serving in Bucha territorial defense. AP -
Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, with her son Oleg Trubchaninov, 46, inside the room of her son Vadym, 48, who was killed by Russian soldiers on March 30 in Bucha. AP -
A relative cries after the body of a civilian was exhumed from a shallow grave near his home in the village of Andriivka, in Kyiv region. AFP
Ukraine’s leader also called for tougher sanctions against Moscow after the consequences of its invasion.
“Russian troops repeat on our land what Europe probably only saw during World War II,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
