Zelenskyy: Russia contingent in Ukraine decreasing by 8-10 thousand per month
The size of the Russia occupation contingent involved in the war against Ukraine is decreasing by eight to ten thousand military personnel every month, reported President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Minus 8-10 thousand on average per month for their army, their contingent that is located on the territory of Ukraine and fighting against Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in an interview with AFP on Friday, the full version of which was published on YouTube.
According to him, Russia mobilizes 40-44 thousand military personnel monthly and irretrievably loses 30-35 thousand on the battlefield as killed and severely wounded. "This does not mean they are left with a plus of 10 thousand, because among the 40 thousand there is replenishment, they have their own AWOLs (unauthorized absences) – in principle, we have AWOLs and they have their percentage of AWOLs – and also not all 43 thousand reach the front line. We currently see a minus of 10 thousand," the President explained.
Zelenskyy added that if the number of destroyed Russia personnel increases, it will also affect their advancement. "Today, as we measured – one kilometer costs them 157 killed, ‘cargo 200,’ Russians. That is approximately the rate of their advancement," he said.
When asked whether it is currently possible to predict when the advancement of Russia can be stopped, the President replied that this depends "directly on the military and also on the strengthening of unmanned systems forces; it depends very much on the training of additional operators – we are doing this, we are scaling up." "It also depends very much on the proficiency and training of the Russians, and the number of destroyed Russia troops," Zelenskyy said.
He reported that daily work is being conducted to stop the Russia advancement.
"We can see that in Kupiansk this was successful. I cannot tell you how final it is, but nevertheless, we control the city. There is success there for the Armed Forces and the National Guard, for all forces. It has been successful there as of today… We worked very well in the Sumy direction. We do not see a possibility for Russia to advance there today. We are working and doing everything so that in Chernihiv, in the Chernihiv direction, there are also no challenges," Zelenskyy said.
