Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski has said that Russia’s announcement of a troop withdrawal in the Kherson region could be a strategic decision to regroup its forces, before adding that Moscow has lost «ten times» more military personnel than Kiev since the start of the invasion.
«They are ready to defend this region and they are not ready to leave the city,» Zelenski has said of the Russian forces’ intentions. «The fact that they are in dwellings (they have occupied in the area) means that they are seriously preparing, but we are also very prepared,» he has pointed out.
«We have a strategy and different directions,» he has argued in an interview with U.S. television network CNN, before adding that Pentagon estimates that Russia has already lost 50 percent of its battle tanks «more or less corresponds to reality.»
Zelenski qualified that, «frankly speaking,» «no one knows the full reality, especially in terms of personnel.» However, he said that Russia has suffered «ten times more» losses than Ukraine, which he described as «a very significant difference».
The president has also pointed to a refusal of Kiev to treat the population as «cannon fodder», which in his opinion would explain this difference in casualty figures. «When we ask our partners for artillery or armed vehicles, it is not only for weapons, but to protect our military,» he defended.
In this sense, he has indicated that the artillery delivered by the United States and European countries has helped Ukraine to «break» the Russian military offensive, before reiterating his support to Washington and expressing his wish that «bipartisan support» will be maintained in the United States after the mid-term elections held on November 8.
«We are very grateful for the bipartisan support. We would love to see this bipartisan support maintained after the election,» he has said. «It is very important to preserve this level of support, because the U.S. endorsement sends a very significant and powerful signal,» Zelenski has reiterated.
