Ukraine is losing 60 to 100 soldiers every day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Newsmax in an interview that aired on Tuesday.
The situation in the east [of Ukraine] is very difficult. We are losing 60 to 100 soldiers every day and something like 500 wounded in combat,” Zelensky said.
The President also told Newsmax that shipments of grain are being blocked by Russia in the Black Sea.
“Currently, 22.5 million tons of grain are blocked by Russia,” Zelensky said. “In order to de-block this territory with an exit to the sea, with an exit to water, with an exit to our people, we need to fight and we need to have weapons with the effective range as far as 120-140 kilometers.”
Some context: Earlier on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced a new package of rocket systems to be sent to Ukraine. Senior administration officials said the rocket systems would have the capability to launch rockets as far as 80 kilometers, far less than the long-range weaponry Zelensky has asked for, but far greater than anything Ukraine has been sent to date.
In the interview with Newsmax, Zelensky was adamant the rockets would be used in Ukraine – not on Russian soil.
“I know some of the people in the United States are saying, or people in the White House are saying, we might be using them to attack Russia: Look, we’re not planning to attack Russia. We’re not interested in the Russian Federation. We’re not fighting on their territory,” Zelensky said.
“We have the war on our territory. They came to our country. We want to de-block our cities. For that purpose, we need ammo that can reach as far as 100 kilometers.”
source cnn
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