President Volodymyr Zelensky has directly called upon the Russian people to abandon the war against his nation after the Wagner group’s attempted coup threatened Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

In a speech made as the Wagner mercenary forces marched towards Moscow, the Ukrainian leader warned that keeping Putin in the Kremlin would only lead to ‘more disasters’.

The president said: ‘What will we Ukrainians, do? We will defend our country. We will defend our freedom. We will not be silent and we will not be inactive. We know how to win – and it will happen. Our victory in this war.

‘And what will you Russians do? The longer your troops stay on Ukrainian land, the more devastation they will bring to Russia. The longer this person is in the Kremlin, the more disasters there will be.’

Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive is being bolstered by the disarray in Russia caused by the mercenary revolt and is making ‘steady tactical progress’, Kyiv said. 

Wagner mercenaries returned to their bases on Sunday after Putin agreed to allow their leader to avoid treason charges and accept exile in Belarus. 

Zelensky and US President Joe Biden discussed the dramatic situation in Russia in a phone call on Sunday.

‘I spoke with US President Joseph Biden. A positive and inspiring conversation,’ Zelensky tweeted.

‘We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia,’ he wrote, adding the two had also discussed long-range weapons.

The White House confirmed the talks in a separate statement.

‘The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored,’ Zelensky added.

The Ministry of Defence said in its daily report that Ukraine’s soldiers are using the experiences from the first two weeks of the counter-offensive to hone tactics for assaulting the deep, well prepared Russian defences. 

It said that Ukrainian units are making ‘gradual but steady tactical progress in key areas’.

The MoD said: ‘In Luhansk Oblast, Russian forces have made their own significant effort to launch an attack in the Serebryanka Forest near Kremina.

‘This probably reflects continued Russian senior leadership orders to go on the offensive whenever possible.

‘Russia has made some small gains, but Ukrainian forces have prevented a breakthrough.’

Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council, believes the collapse of Russia is inevitable following the short-lived revolt and said the ‘countdown’ for the Russian President has already started.

He wrote on social media: ‘Anything that might go wrong in Russia will go wrong, and this ‘Prigozhin [chief of the Wagner PMC] incident’ may or might have triggered processes with unpredictable consequences.

‘The countdown has begun’.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said in a post on Telegram that troops launched an offensive in a number of locations in eastern Ukraine including Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Bakhmut, Bohdanivka, Yagidne, Klishchiivka, and Kurdyumivka.

She said that Russia carried out airstrikes in Shakhtar and Avdiyiv, while heavy fighting continues in the south.

Maliar also said that Russia has faced ‘significant losses in personnel, weapons and equipment’. 

Ukraine has released trench warfare combat footage showing troops shooting at the enemy in Bakhmut.

In the video an explosion next to one of the soldiers sends him stumbling backwards before the fighting continues.

Bakhmut had been the epicentre of intense fighting for several months before Ukraine launched its counter-offensive.

It comes after five people were killed in a Russian air strike in Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday. 

The city’s mayor said that the bodies of two victims were uncovered under the rubble in the Solomyan district on Sunday.

Speaking on state television on Sunday, Putin expressed that he is still confident about the invasion.

He said: ‘We feel confident, and, of course, we are in a position to implement all the plans and tasks ahead of us.

‘This also applies to the country’s defence, it applies to the special military operation, it applies to the economy as a whole and its individual areas.’

Russia said on Sunday it had repelled new offensives by Ukrainian forces in four areas on the front line, a day after Ukraine claimed ‘progress’ in the east of the country.

‘Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s armed forces have continued to attempt offensive action,’ the defence ministry said in a statement, adding that 10 attacks had been countered near Bakhmut alone.

Russian government troops today withdrew from the streets of Moscow and people flocked to parks and cafes following a brief revolt by mercenary forces that weakened Putin and raised questions about his ability to wage war in Ukraine.

The march on the capital by Wagner troops led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the late-night deal that eventually halted it severely dented Putin’s reputation as a leader who is willing to ruthlessly punish anyone who challenges his authority. 

That may open the door for others who are unhappy with Putin’s two-decade grip on power, especially after his ill-fated invasion of Ukraine.

Under terms of the agreement, Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus but will not face prosecution and his forces won’t either. 

The deal, reportedly brokered by Belarussian President Aleksander Lukashenko, was announced on Saturday night.