Kyiv losing up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers every day on front line, says Zelenskyy's aide

As the war between Moscow and Kyiv continues to escalate, with Russian troops constantly fighting with Ukrainian forces to capture more and more territories, a top Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak told BBC that every day, between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers have been losing their lives on the front line. Podolyak further claimed that Ukraine requires hundreds of Western artillery systems to compete with Russia in the eastern Donbas region. As Russian soldiers strive to gain control of the whole Donbas region, Ukrainian troops are being shelled severely. 

Podolyak asserted, “The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation," BBC reported. He also reiterated Ukraine's need for more armaments from the West, claiming that Ukraine's high loss rate was due to a "complete lack of parity" between the Russian and Ukrainian military. 

Ukrainian casualties have increased in recent time

Highlighting that war-torn Ukraine requires 150 to 300 rocket launch systems to match the Kremlin army, the Ukrainian official noted, "Our demands for artillery are not just some kinds of whim... but an objective need when it comes to the situation on the battlefield," BBC reported.  

Furthermore, Podolyak's estimation of 100 to 200 Ukrainian troops being killed per day is greater than prior figures. Ukraine's Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, stated on Thursday that the country has been losing 100 troops each day and 500 more were injured. 

Despite the significant casualties, Reznikov emphasised that Russian forces are also being killed in large numbers. 

'The fiercest fighting continues in Severodonetsk'

Apart from this, the attack on Severodonetsk city has been intensified by Russian forces. Late Thursday, the Ukrainian military said the battle for Severodonetsk was still going on. Serhiy Hayday, the chief of the military administration in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region, stated on national television, “The situation is consistently difficult. Our defenders are holding the line of defense, leveling the line of defense," CNN reported.  

According to Hayday, “The fiercest fighting continues in Severodonetsk". As per a CNN report, in recent days, the city has been experiencing violent clashes. 

Hayday accused the Russians of declaring victory at Severodonetsk on the basis of "lies and propaganda." Russian troops had withdrawn part of their soldiers while the Russians had already declared that they had captured the city, he added. 

Since there is constant street fighting in the region, on Thursday, Oleksandr Striuk, the leader of Severodonetsk's military administration, stated that the city's humanitarian condition is dire. Because the bridge is on fire, products cannot be delivered and there is no water available, he noted.  

Meanwhile, the embattled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday that "the fate of the Donbas is being decided there," and that it has been turned to ruins by Russian shelling and missile bombardments, according to officials. 

(Image: AP)