KUPIANSK, Ukraine－The Kremlin on Monday denied its forces were responsible for large-scale killings in eastern Ukraine and accused Kyiv of fabricating its discoveries of mass graves in the recaptured territory.

Ukraine recaptured Izyum and other towns in the east this month, crippling Kremlin supply routes and bringing fresh claims of Russian atrocities with the discovery of hundreds of graves.

"These are lies," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. Moscow, he said, "will stand up for the truth in this story".

Ukraine said its troops have marched farther east, paving the way for a potential assault on Moscow's forces in the Donbas region as Kyiv seeks more Western arms.

"The occupiers are clearly in a panic," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised address late on Monday, adding that he was now focused on "speed".

"The speed at which our troops are moving. The speed in restoring normal life," Zelensky said.

Western supplies

British Prime Minister Liz Truss will tell world leaders this week that the UK will next year match or exceed the 2.3 billion pounds ($2.63 billion) it committed to Ukraine in 2022, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Her comments came as British politics returned to center stage on Tuesday after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, with Truss flying to her first major summit in New York.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed to support countries hardest hit by the fallout from Russia's special military operation in Ukraine as she headed to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Some 150 leaders from around the world gathered in New York on Tuesday for the United Nations' massive annual summit, returning in person after two years of pandemic restrictions and video addresses.

In one of the largest exchanges in the seven-month conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US television that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to swap 200 prisoners. Erdogan made the announcement after talks last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan.

Erdogan did not provide full details about the swap, calling the people being exchanged "hostages" and not saying how many there were from each side.

"Two hundred hostages will be exchanged upon agreement between the parties. I think a significant step will be taken forward," Erdogan told PBS television late on Monday.

Agencies via Xinhua