Volodymyr Zelenskyy began to voice the losses suffered by the Ukrainian army in the east of the country so that Ukrainians would understand the cost of Ukraineʼs independence.
The president said this in response to a question from a journalist with Die Zeit.
"People need to know the truth. It is a description of what kind of war of destruction Russia is waging against us," he replied.
Asked if he was afraid of losing the support of his people when people found out how many soldiers were dying at the front and "how unevenly weapons are distributed," Zelenskyy said: "We are strong. And I also want the West to know how we feel when we see again and again how the transfer of necessary defense weapons is delayed. If we got all the modern weapons we asked our partners for, we could save a lot of lives."
According to him, Ukraine will survive as long as necessary, despite such losses.
"The price of resistance is incredibly high. We need a victory. There can be no middle ground in the war for independence and against terror. After the mass killings, rapes, tortures, and deportations of hundreds of thousands of people, we must do everything to protect our people and our country," he said.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has classified data on the loss of defense forces. They will be officially announced after the war. On May 22, Zelenskyy said that in the most difficult direction, in the east, 50 to 100 people die every day.
- Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Presidentʼs Office, said that the daily losses of the Ukrainian military ranged from 100 to 200 people.