Ukraine War: Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. (File)
A Russian soldier, in his final text messages to his mother just before he was killed in Ukraine, said he was "afraid" and that his army was "even targeting civilians", Ukraine's ambassador said at the UN General Assembly session on Monday.
Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said that the messages were from a dead soldier's phone.
"I would like to read these messages from a smartphone of a killed Russian soldier," said Mr Kyslytsya.
According to the messages he read out, the soldier told his mother that it was hard in Ukraine, where people "are falling under our armoured vehicles".
"Mama, I am in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I am afraid. We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us and they are falling under our armoured vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists. Mama this is so hard," the soldier said, according to the texts read out by the Ukrainian Ambassador.
Holding up the images of the text messages, the envoy added: "This was several moments before he was killed. Just realise the magnitude of this tragedy."
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and has since been advancing to its capital Kyiv, shelling many cities.
Increasingly isolated, Russia faced urgent calls to end its "unprovoked" and "unjustified" assault on Ukraine as the UN General Assembly's 193 members held the extraordinary debate on the invasion of the ex-Soviet state.
During the rare session, just the 11th in the UN General Assembly's history, Russia defended its decision to invade its neighbour as nation after nation urged peace.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded: "The fighting in Ukraine must stop. Enough is enough."
Representatives of more than 100 countries are expected to speak over three days as the UN decides if it will support a resolution that demands Russia immediately withdraws its troops from Ukraine. A vote is expected Wednesday, and it must reach a two-thirds threshold to pass.