In his video address, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops outside Bakhmut were inflicting numerous losses on the Russians and said Moscow was building up its forces in the region.
Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts.
RUSSIA SENDS FRIGATE
Zelenskyy last month told the US Congress that the tens of billions of dollars of US aid to help it combat Russia’s invasion was not charity, but an investment in global security.
The United States is preparing another weapons aid package which could be announced in the coming days on top of about US$21.3 billion in security assistance so far to Ukraine.
The United States has increased the capability of the weapons it has sent including shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles as well as Javelin anti-tank missiles, the HIMARS rocket system and NASAMS surface-to-air missiles.
During Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, the United States pledged to send the sophisticated Patriot missile system to repel Russian missile and drone attacks.
An official from the Ukrainian defence ministry’s intelligence section, Andriy Cherniak, said in comments to the RBC-Ukraine media outlet that Kyiv expected no let-up in Russia’s offensive this year despite the heavy human toll.
“According to Ukrainian military intelligence estimates, in the next four-five months the Russian army may lose up to 70,000 people. And the occupying country’s (Russia’s) leadership is ready for such losses,” Cherniak said.
Russian leaders “understand they will lose but they do not plan to end the war”, he said.
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