According to a top Ukrainian presidential adviser, between 100 and 200 Ukrainian forces are killed on the front lines every day.
According to Mykhaylo Podolyak, Ukraine requires hundreds of Western artillery systems to compete with Russia in the eastern Donbas region.
He also stated that Kyiv is not prepared to resume discussions with Russia.
“The Russian troops have hurled pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front,” Mr Podolyak added, referring to heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems, and aviation.
He reiterated Ukraine’s need for more armaments from the West, claiming that Ukraine’s high loss rate was due to a “total lack of balance” between the Russian and Ukrainian military.
“Our demands for artillery are not a whim… but an actual requirement when it comes to the circumstances on the battlefield,” he said, adding that Ukraine requires 150 to 300 rocket launch systems to equal Russia – significantly more than it has gotten thus far.
Mr. Podolyak further stated that peace negotiations could only restart if Russia returned the land it had won during the 24 February invasion.
Mr. Podolyak’s estimate of 100 to 200 Ukrainian troops being killed per day is greater than prior figures. Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, stated on Thursday that the country was losing 100 troops each day and 500 more were injured.
The disparities in casualty estimates reflect how difficult it is to obtain reliable data from the battlefield.
Despite the significant casualties, Mr Reznikov said that Russian forces are also being killed in large numbers.
Mr Reznikov added, “The Kremlin continues to press by sheer bulk, stumbles, gets harsh rebuffs, and suffers massive fatalities.” “However, in certain sectors of the front, he still has forces to advance.”
Similarly, Sergei Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk area, claimed Russians were “dying like flies,” but backed Mr Podolyak’s assertion that Ukraine is suffering from a “catastrophic” lack of artillery.
The attack on Severodonetsk has been focused by Russian forces. Mr Zelensky warned on Wednesday that “the fate of the Donbas is being determined there,” and that it has been turned to ruins by Russian artillery and missile barrages, according to authorities.
In addition to the frontline combat, an unrecognized court in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic condemned two Britons and a Moroccan man who fought for Ukraine’s armed forces to death on Thursday.
They were found guilty of being mercenaries and of “taking measures to seize power violently.”
