3,000 Soldiers Have Been Killed, Says Ukraine President As Russia Promises More Strikes On Kyiv

As the Russian invasion in Ukraine entered the 52nd day on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said about 2,500 to 3,000 troops have been killed in seven weeks of war and about 10,000 injured.

He also claimed that 19,000 to 20,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war.

AFP

This is much higher than the 1,351 troop losses Russia has acknowledged so far.

Earlier on Thursday Zelensky had told Ukrainians that they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the Russians ¡°gave us a maximum of five.¡±

Zelensky called it ¡°an achievement of millions of Ukrainians, of everyone who on February 24 made the most important decision of their life ¨C to fight.¡±

AFP

Moskva sailing away into the bottom of the sea

He also spoke about many ways in which Ukrainians have helped to fend off the Russian troops, including ¡°those who showed that Russian warships can sail away, even if it's to the bottom¡± of the sea, in reference to the Russian warship Moskva, that sunk in the Black Sea after being hit by a Ukrainian missile.

Though Russia has not officially revealed how Moskva, the flagship of Moscow's Black Sea fleet sunk, it said that there was an ammunition explosion that caused serious damage.

Russia had initially claimed that the nearly 500 sailors who were on board were evacuated.

AFP/ File

The Russian Defence Ministry had also claimed that the ship was afloat and was being brought to a designated harbour, but later admitted that the ship has sunk while being towed in stormy seas.

Major loss for Russia

It is believed that without the Moskva, the largest warship sunk during the conflict since Argentina's General Belgrano in the 1982 Falklands war, its ability to menace Ukraine from the sea could be crippled.

The sinking of the Black Sea flagship has not gone down well in Russia and Moscow has promised to retaliate.

AFP

Russia had on Friday used cruise missiles to hit the Vizar factory on the edge of Kyiv, which it said made and repaired missiles, including anti-ship missiles.

Russia has also pledged to launch more strikes on Kyiv, weeks after withdrawing from the outskirts of the capital.

After its invasion force was driven from the outskirts of Kyiv this month, Moscow has said its main war aim is to capture the Donbas, the eastern region partly held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.

Bleak picture in Mariupol

Meanwhile in the port city of Mariupol, where ground fighting has intensified as Ukraine said it was trying to break Russia's siege.

Reuters

Home to 400,000 people before Russia's invasion, Mariupol has been reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians have died and tens of thousands remain trapped.

"The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city," defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a briefing. He said the Russians have not completely captured it.

If Moscow captures Mariupol, it would be the first big city to fall.

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