“The human cost of this battle is very high for us. It’s just awful,” Zelensky said in his daily address to Ukrainians, which was broadcast on the Telegram platform.
The head of the Ukrainian state, quoted by the Efe news agency, added that “the battle in Donbass will certainly go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in Europe.”
“We are dealing with absolute evil,” he said, explaining that “there is no other choice but to move forward and liberate” his country, including the Russian-occupied regions in the south and east, which were once threatened by a “civilizational blockade “. that the Russians “block all communications” with the outside world.
In the message, Zelensky called a loss rate of 100 soldiers and 500 wounded per day in battles with the Russian army, which has so far unsuccessfully tried to control Severodonetsk.
Zelensky has also once again turned to the West to provide “more weapons” to the Ukrainian army as Moscow forces control much of Severodonetsk and continue to crush Ukrainian artillery.
Earlier in the evening, the governor of the Luhansk region, Sergei Gaidai, said that “70-80% of the city” was occupied by the Russians, adding that “three bridges (which link Severodonetsk with the neighboring city of Lisichansk) have been destroyed.”
