Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is too cowardly to admit it’s lost its now-five-month-long war in the country, as the US slammed the Kremlin for allegedly forcing the deportation of Ukrainian civilians.

“They no longer have strategic power, character, or understanding of what they are doing here, on our land,” the leader said Tuesday, according to the Kyiv Independent. “There is not an iota of courage to admit defeat and withdraw troops from the Ukrainian territory.”

The strong words come as Russia continues its offensive in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, and Kyiv begins a new counter-offensive in the country’s south.

Russia has hit back in the south too, striking 28 settlements bordering the Black Sea and killing at least five people, according to Ukraine.

The Kremlin also claims it shot down four Ukrainian military jets, which Kyiv denies.

The US on Wednesday strongly condemned the “unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons” by Russian forces from areas in Ukraine that Moscow now controls.

“Estimates from a variety of sources, including the Russian government, indicate that Russian authorities have interrogated, detained, and forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, from their homes to Russia — often to isolated regions in the Far East,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and is a war crime.”

The State Department alleged that Ukrainian babies are being put up for adoption in Russia and that the country is deporting thousands of Ukrainian citizens.

“The United States and our partners will not be silent. Ukraine and its citizens deserve justice,” Blinken said.