BORIS Johnson’s surprise visit to Ukraine this week was both “symbolic” and incredibly important, Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser has said.

In an exclusive interview with GB News, Alexander Rodnyansky also said Ukraine was now more dependent than ever on the support of the UK and other major nations in the face of the continued Russian aggression.

“The Prime Minister’s visit was very important, symbolic and the President and the Ukrainian people appreciated it,” he told Weekend Breakfast.

“More significantly, he brought important news with him about the continued support the UK will offer. Support is vital for Ukraine at this stage. In some ways, we are even more dependent now on this than before because Russia has destroyed so many of our military facilities including those where we are able to produce ammunition.”

Mr Rodnyansky said the Ukrainian people remained worried about the future and braced for a long-term conflict.

“People remained concerned about the future,” he admitted. “They are braced for a lengthy war effort. We know the Russians are not going to give up. We need to resist as long as we can and then wait for the moment when something materially changes inside of Russia. There is nothing else that will change things. The source of all this is, and remains, Putin and the Russian regime.”

On how the conflict has impacted the mood of the Ukrainian President he added: “The President remains as he always has been: honest, down to earth, a great leader. He’s consolidated the people. Many would say he is a greater leader now than before.”

Asked whether Ukraine had intelligence on Putin’s current state of mind in relation to the war he commented: “Yes, and our intelligence suggests he is unhappy. He expected to topple us in days, to roll over. All of these things have failed. But we know who he is and we know how he thinks and we know that he will continue as long as he has the resources to do so. As long as he has the power he will carry on. That’s the bad news for us. Russia still has the resources to just push on. That’s why as a nation we must stay together. We are going to build back better, but we need to win the war first.”