- Zelenskiy said the “incompetence” of the Russian military is leading to “unprecedented losses.”
- He said about 14,000 Russian soldiers died, compared to 7,000 according to Western estimates.
- Zelensky added that some Russian combat units were destroyed “by 80-90%” during the fighting.
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In a scathing message Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some combat areas were “simply littered with the corpses of Russian soldiers.”
The President of Ukraine said that his forces continue to hold back Russian forces and “inflict unprecedented losses on Russian forces.” He added that the Russian military showed themselves to be “incompetent, capable of simply driving their people to slaughter.”
“Some divisions of the occupiers have been destroyed by 80-90%,” Zelensky said in Telegram. “In places of particularly fierce fighting, the front line of our defense is simply littered with the corpses of Russian soldiers.”
“And these corpses, these bodies are not taken away,” he added. “Through these organs, new units are being driven into the offensive. Some of the reserves that the command of the Russian troops collects wherever possible.
Zelensky said more than 14,000 Russian soldiers had died so far. Last week, US intelligence estimated that 7,000 of the 150,000 Russian troops who served in the war had died.
“We are well aware that Russia simply has a bottomless human resource and a lot of equipment, missiles and bombs. But I want to ask the citizens of Russia. What have they done to you over the years that you stopped noticing your losses? “Zelensky said. “That’s 14,000 mothers, 14,000 fathers. These are wives, these are children, relatives and friends. And you don’t notice it?”
He warned that as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, there will be “only more casualties.” Zelensky has repeatedly called for peace talks with Russia over the past few weeks, warning that otherwise Russia will suffer losses that will take “several generations” to recover.
During an interview with CNN on Sunday, Zelenskiy said he was open to talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if those talks failed, it “would mean it’s a third world war,” Insider’s John Dorman said.
“Ukraine has always strived for a peaceful solution,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “Because we count all the dead, because every destroyed family, every destroyed house is important to us. Because there were Ukrainians, and for us a person is priceless.”