President Vladimir Putin said there were no plans for new massive strikes on Ukraine "for now" after what Ukraine said was the firing of 100 Russian cruise missiles this week, mainly at its electricity and heat infrastructure.

It was Russia's biggest air assault yet in an nearly 8-month conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

"We do not set ourselves the task of destroying Ukraine. No, of course not," Putin said, describing the war he started as unpleasant but saying he had no regrets.

Putin's comments will add to speculation that Russia's supply of cruise missiles is dwindling and follow a promise he made on Friday to end his divisive mobilisation drive.

He said Russia should be finished calling up reservists in two weeks.

'Putin's chef' and his private Wagner militia are on a roll in Ukraine

On a frosty night in March 1980, 19-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin and three of his friends walked out of a restaurant on the outskirts of Leningrad and saw a young woman in leather boots.

One of the men asked her for a light and before she knew it, Prigozhin stood behind her back, strangling her. A few moments later she fell on the pavement unconscious.

Prigozhin and his friends took off her leather boots and golden earrings, and fled the scene. The Leningrad teenager, who spent ten years in prison for his crime, has now emerged as one of Vladimir Putin’s most trusted allies in the war with Ukraine.