The Ukrainian president said the military situation in the south and east was “still very difficult”, while praising the work of his armed forces. “The successes of our army on the battlefield are really important, historically important. “But they are still not enough to clear our land of the invaders.” Zelensky, speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper, estimated that about 10,000 of his soldiers had been wounded in the war so far and that up to 20,000 Russian soldiers had been killed. Moscow said last month that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded. There is still no way to independently verify any of the allegations. Ukrainian forces remain prepared for Russian retaliation after the sinking of the flagship of the cruiser Moskva, the pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which the American defenders confirmed was sunk after a Ukrainian missile attack. The government in Kyiv said it destroyed the giant missile cruiser during a Black Sea battle operation on Wednesday. The ship’s ammunition deck exploded after being hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles, he added. Russia says after the sinking, it hit what it described as a factory on the outskirts of the capital Kiev that manufactures and repairs anti-ship missiles. The United States has said two Ukrainian missiles struck Moscow, causing Russian casualties, a senior official has said, contradicting Moscow’s claim that the cruise ship sank and more than 500 sailors were evacuated. The fate of the vast majority of the crew remains unclear. Map of Ukraine Zelensky asked Joe Biden for the United States to designate Russia as a “terrorist state” that would join North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria, the Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the conversation. A White House spokesman responded: “We will continue to look at all options to increase pressure on Putin.” Russia this week reportedly sent a formal warning to the United States not to send more weapons to Ukraine or face “unintended consequences.” The diplomatic note, or step, warned that deliveries of “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine by the US and NATO were “pouring oil” on the conflict. The United States is preparing to send the last tranche of $ 800 million (10 610 million) in military aid to Ukraine, bringing the total to $ 2.6 billion since the start of the war. The Biden government also made it clear that it was sending increasingly heavy and sophisticated equipment, including helicopters, air and sea drones and 155mm long-range shells, while training Ukrainian soldiers in their use. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and top finance officials, including Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Central Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko, will travel to Washington next week to attend World Bank and World Bank meetings. sources told Reuters and the Associated Press. Type. It will be the first opportunity for key Ukrainian officials to meet in person with financial officials from advanced economies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February. The bodies of more than 900 civilians have now been found in the Kiev region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, police said. That is double the number announced by the Ukrainian authorities two weeks ago. Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned on the street or temporarily buried. He cited police figures showing that 95% had died from gunshots. “As a result, we understand that under the occupation, people were simply executed on the streets,” Nebytov said. After seven weeks of war, Ukraine said it was trying to break the siege of Russia in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, a city so devastated by bombings and cut off by invading forces that the head of the World Food Program had trapped there. is in danger of dying of starvation. Home to 400,000 people before the invasion of Russia, Mariupol has been reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians have lost their lives and tens of thousands remain trapped. Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a statement that the Russians did not fully occupy it, but added: “The situation in Mariupol is difficult and harsh. The battles are taking place right now. “The Russian army is constantly calling for additional units to invade the city.” If Moscow occupied Mariupol, it would be the first major city to fall. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had seized the city’s Illich steel plant, but that this could not be confirmed. The Ukrainian defenders are mainly believed to be able to withstand Azovstal, another huge steelworks. Both plants are owned by Metinvest – the empire of Ukraine’s richest businessman and the backbone of Ukraine’s industrial east – which told Reuters on Friday it would never allow its businesses to operate under Russian occupation. In other developments:
Germany has said it plans to release more than 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine. On Friday, the country’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, confirmed that the government had decided to increase its international defense assistance to 2 billion euros, with the bulk going to Ukraine as military aid. It follows pressure from Ukraine – and criticism from other EU governments – over the apparent lack of arms support from Germany in Kyiv. Diplomatic wings were shaken earlier in the week after Kyiv rejected a proposed visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who recently acknowledged “mistakes” in an overly conciliatory stance against Moscow in the past. Instead, the Ukrainian presidency said it wanted to welcome Olaf Solz, but the chancellor said he had no plans to visit soon.
