Victims in the Ukrainian army
Selenskyj speaks of up to 3,000 soldiers killed
04/16/2022, 02:31 am
How many soldiers on the Russian and Ukrainian side have died in the war so far cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy now states that several thousand members of his own army have died as a result of the Kremlin’s attack.
According to information from Kyiv, 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. According to the translation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview to the US television channel CNN, the first excerpts of which were distributed. Zelenskyj also reported about 10,000 injured soldiers on the Ukrainian side. It is difficult to say how many of them will survive.
For comparison, Zelenskyy quoted Ukrainian figures, according to which 20,000 soldiers had already been killed on the Russian side. Western estimates assume several thousand dead on the Russian side. Moscow recently spoke of around 1,350 soldiers killed in its own ranks. Referring to the relatives, Selenskyj said that as a father, it hurts him particularly when parents lose a child. “It hurts so much. It’s a tragedy.” But he shouldn’t see this as a father, “because after that you only want revenge and murder.”
He must see it as the president of the country where many people have died and lost their loved ones and where there are millions of people “who want to live”. “We all want to fight. But we all have to do our best so that this war is not endless.”
“Enormous” clean-up after Russian attack
Selenskyj sees his country confronted with massive challenges in places deserted by Russian units or driven out of there. Authorities are continuing to restore normal life there, Zelenskyy said in his evening video message. The scope of the work in the 918 towns and cities of different sizes is “really enormous”.
Mines are cleared and the supply of electricity, water and gas is restored. The police, post office and local authorities are also resuming their work. Train connections have been set up again in the Sumy region in the north-east of the country or are about to be resumed with the city of Chernihiv in the north.
Humanitarian staffs have so far been set up in 338 such locations. Among other things, they provided emergency medical care, said Selenskyj. Schools and other educational institutions should also be resumed where possible. As of Friday, Russian troops had destroyed or damaged 1,018 educational institutions in the country, Zelenskyy said. The information could not be independently verified. Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24. The Russian military has meanwhile withdrawn from the area around the capital Kyiv in order to regroup for an offensive in the east and south of Ukraine. This is expected in the next few days.