Zelensky says nearly 65,000 Russians have died in Ukraine war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated in an address on Saturday that almost 65,000 Russians have died in their country’s war on Ukraine.

“So many citizens of Russia gave their lives for the possibility of a handful of people in the Kremlin to ignore reality,” he said, adding that not even the deaths of 100,000 Russians will “prompt the Kremlin to think a little bit.”

Zelensky estimated last month, just over three weeks before Saturday’s address, that 55,000 Russians had been killed in the conflict.

The Russian military, meanwhile, has killed a number of Ukrainians and caused widespread destruction in cities across the country in recent days using missiles and Iranian-made drones.

“Unfortunately, there is destruction and casualties,” mourned Zelensky, naming the Donbas region, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk as regions where attacks have landed in the past two days.

Russia shelled an energy facility in Kyiv early on Saturday morning, causing officials to call on residents of the province to limit their use of electricity as Ukrainians attempt to rebuild.

“Although in some of our cities and districts the power companies are still forced to limit the supply of electricity to maintain the stability of the system, we are doing and will do everything to restore the technical capabilities for supply,” said Zelensky in his speech.

The Ukrainian leader praised the U.S., especially Congress and President Biden, for providing the war-torn country with a new $725 million defense package, which he called “necessary.”

The package includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and artillery, anti-tank weapons and anti-radar missiles.

Zelensky said “the way of peace” in the months-long war lies through “the free world” protecting Ukraine with sanctions and other help and through the “complete displacement of the occupiers from Ukrainian land and dismantling of the aggressive capabilities of the terrorist state.”

“Peace will become possible when its terror becomes impossible for Russia,” he said.

The president also promised that his military would “do everything to make the occupiers feel that they have no prospects,” particularly in the east and south of the country, where Ukraine is currently mounting a major counteroffensive.

“Ukraine will definitely return everything that belongs to it,” warned Zelensky.