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PRESIDENT Zelensky has said 16,000 Russian troops are dead as his soldiers prepared to retake the first city that Putin seized.
The Ukrainian leader, 44, said his troops delivered powerful blows to Moscow’s forces in his night-time address and urged the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the war.
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But he warned he would never let any Ukrainian territory be handed over to tyrant Putin, 69, in a deal.
It came as adviser to Ukraine’s ministry of defence Markian Lubkivskyi predicted troops could take back Kherson in the south today.
But he said he was sceptical over the Russian President’s claims his forces will no longer try to take the whole nation.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “We cannot believe the statements from Moscow because there’s still a lot of untruth and lies from that side.
“That’s why we understand the goal of Putin still is the whole of Ukraine.
“We can see now that the enemy is focused on the eastern part of Ukraine but we are ready for any kind of attacks in different Ukrainian places.
“I believe that today the city will be fully under the control of Ukrainian armed forces.
“We have finished in the last two days the operation in the Kyiv region so other armed forces are now focused on the southern part trying to get free Kherson and some other Ukrainian cities.”
Kherson fell earlier this month as Russia’s first major gain in the war.
And today President Zelensky told Qatar’s Doha Forum that Russia’s bragging about its nuclear power is fuelling a dangerous arms race.
Kremlin officials yesterday said its forces will not only focus on “liberating” pro-Moscow separatist regions in eastern Donbas.
But Sergei Rudskoi, chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, did not rule out further attacks on Ukrainian cities – claiming the assaults had not been planned.
Ukraine is close to securing a major victory as British defence officials said there was now a “realistic possibility” that the towns of Bucha and Irpin would be encircled by Ukrainian forces.
The Ministry of Defence said Russian troops are facing “considerable supply and morale issues” and it was unlikely they would be able to regroup and capture Kyiv.
But Ukraine said talks with Moscow continued to be “very difficult” and vowed not to back down on its demands, more than a month into Russia’s invasion.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. “The negotiation process is very difficult.
“The Ukrainian delegation has taken a strong position and does not relinquish its demands.
“We insist, first of all, on a ceasefire, security guarantees, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
It comes as…
Ukraine is now littered with the burnt out wrecks of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, charred remains of downed aircraft, and the dead bodies of soldiers – many of who were teenage conscripts.
As the fighting takes its toll on Russian troops, stories are beginning to emerge of anger and plummeting morale.
One soldier allegedly drove his tank into his commanding officer as he protested horrific losses among his comrades.
Colonel Yuri Medvedev was hospitalised with severe leg injuries after the reported incident.
Russia accidentally revealed it has lost 10,000 troops, when the figure was disclosed by a pro-Kremlin newspaper.
But NATO has said that figure could be as high as 15,000 with the total losses including wounded, captured or missing up to 40,000.
If the estimate is correct, then Russian losses in just under a month in Ukraine are now the same as they suffered during their ten year war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his country to keep up its military defence and not stop “even for a minute”.
He used his nightly video address to rally Ukrainians to “move toward peace, move forward”.
He said: “With every day of our defence, we are getting closer to the peace that we need so much.
“We can’t stop even for a minute, for every minute determines our fate, our future, whether we will live.”
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