The ratio of Ukrainian and Russian military personnel losses at this stage of the war is one to six, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 30 in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Indeed, they (Russian forces) have much more people, and indeed we care for our people more. We will not have more people than Russia (on the battlefield)," Zelensky said.
Zelensky added that the ratio was one to four earlier, but now it is six to one, considering the situation in the directions of the cities of Pokrovsk and Kharkiv.
Russia has lost over 540,000 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to Ukraine's General Staff. This number includes both killed and injured.
Through open-source research, Mediazona, a Russian independent media outlet, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 64,000 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify this data.
Zelensky said the war relies on technology, and whoever is more advanced will win.
Speaking about how Ukraine can prevail on the battlefield despite the smaller number of manpower and weapons, Zelensky called on the West to close all the loopholes for Russia to circumvent sanctions for its domestic drone and missiles production.
It is also necessary to finance the domestic production of drones and missiles in Ukraine, he added.
Zelensky also emphasized that Russia earns the most from its oil and gas exports to fuel its aggression in Ukraine.
"This is the most important thing, and we need to focus on it – not to allow sanctions to be circumvented, to support Ukraine technologically, and not to be afraid of what will happen to Russia after (Vladimir) Putin. This is the main message," Zelensky said.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
