Thousands gather in Kyiv in display of unity amid fears of invasion

Several thousand Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv on Saturday to show unity amid fears of a Russian invasion, as Ukraine's leader told people not to panic and pushed back against what he said was a glut of bleak war predictions being reported in the media.

Tension has mounted as Russia has built up more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine and carried out large-scale exercises. The United States said on Friday an invasion could start at any moment, but Russia denies planning to invade.

Ukrainians filed through the centre of Kyiv in a column, chanting "Glory to Ukraine" and carrying Ukrainian flags and banners that said "Ukrainians Will Resist" and "Invaders Must Die."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended police drills in the southern Kherson region, said a Russian attack could happen at any time, but he pushed back against what he called excessive amounts of information about a major looming war.

"The best friend of our enemies is panic in our country. And all this information is just provoking panic and can't help us," he said.

"I can't agree or disagree with what hasn't happened yet. So far, there is no full-scale war in Ukraine."

The U.S. and numerous Western governments have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine, and Washington on Saturday said it was ordering most of its embassy staff in Kyiv to leave.

"We have to be ready each day. It did not begin yesterday. It began in 2014, so we are ready and this is why we are here," Zelensky said, referring to Russia's annexation of Crimea and backing for an anti-Kyiv separatist insurgency in the east.

In a separate statement, the head of the Ukrainian armed forces, Lt.-Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said any invader won't take Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv or any other city in Ukraine.

"We have strengthened the defence of Kyiv. We have gone through the war and due preparation. Therefore, we are ready to meet enemies and not with flowers, but with Stingers, Javelins and NLAW. Welcome to hell!," Zaluzhny said, referring to an array of anti-rocket and anti-aircraft weapons received from the West.

The military says Ukrainian intelligence and the army have control of the situation on the borders and that Kyiv is co-ordinating its actions with allies.

"Such a union of leading democracies has not existed for decades," Zaluzhny and Reznikov said.

Zelensky voiced frustrations just last month with dire assessments of a war. Such warnings have taken their toll on the economy, piling pressure on the national currency.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will speak later on Saturday.