Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian troops in Donetsk are suffering heavy daily casualties, leaving the region “littered” with Russian bodies. During his late-night televised address on Monday, Zelensky said Ukrainian counter-offensives were “progressing gradually” and were “pushing back” Russian forces in areas of eastern and southern Ukraine. Zelensky said Donetsk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he annexed to Russia in late September, remained the “epicenter” of a Russian military “madness” resulting in hundreds of soldier deaths a day. “The Donetsk region remains the epicenter of the greatest madness of the occupiers – they are dying by the hundreds every day,” Zelensky said. “The ground in front of the Ukrainian positions is literally littered with the bodies of the occupiers.” Zelensky also pushed back against Russian officials who denied his own naval unit’s claims of significant losses in Donetsk. A high-ranking Russian navy unit reportedly detailed the casualties in a letter shared on Telegram this week. The letter attributed to Russia’s 155th Guards Marine Infantry Brigade claimed that around 300 members of the unit were lost last week – including those “killed, wounded and missing” – during an “incomprehensible” attack on the village of Pavlivka, southwest of city. of Donetsk. “The regional administration with me [the brigade commander] they are hiding this… for fear of accountability,” the letter states. “They don’t care about anything other than showing off. They call people meat.” The letter was addressed to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s eastern Primorsky Krai region, where the naval unit is based. In a video posted on Telegram, Kozemiako reportedly admitted there had been “casualties” amid “tough fighting” but claimed the letter had exaggerated the casualties. “We have contacted the commanders,” Kozemiako said, according to Reuters. “Yes, there are losses, there are hard battles, but they are far from what is written in this appeal.” The Russian Defense Ministry also reportedly denied the extent of the casualties, denying in a statement that the unit had suffered “high, unnecessary losses in people and equipment,” while specifically describing the commanders as “competent.” “Due to the competent actions of unit commanders, Marine losses for the given period do not exceed 1% of the combat strength and 7% of the wounded, a significant part of which has already returned to duty,” said the statement cited by the Russia. reports the state news agency RIA, according to Reuters. Zelensky denounced the Russian denials during his speech on Monday. He said Kozemiako had “expected lies” and pointed out that Primorsky Krai is far from Donetsk. “From Vladivostok to Pavlovka, in the Donetsk region, it is more than 9 thousand kilometers,” Zelensky said. “But he is sure that the losses are ‘not like that.’ The governor, perhaps, can better see from there how many soldiers from his region are being sent for slaughter and in what way.” “Or he was just ordered to lie,” she continued. “Order from Moscow”. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
