War against Ukraine: Kyiv reports 10,000 soldiers killed

According to presidential adviser Arestovych, around 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed so far. According to the mayor, cholera has broken out in Mariupol and bodies are decomposing in the streets.

Around 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the Russian invasion in February, according to an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The figure came in one of regular YouTube video interviews by Presidential Confidence Oleksiy Arestovych with Russian opposition figure Mark Feygin. Previously, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are currently being killed every day.

Arestovych also said that on the Ukrainian side, even at the beginning of the war, about 100 servicemen died every day. When asked whether it was possible to assume a total of around 10,000 soldiers killed, he replied: “Yes, roughly.” According to Arestovych, however, more Russian soldiers than Ukrainian soldiers are permanently killed.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia have so far provided exhaustive information on the casualties in the war that began on February 24. Selenskyj last spoke of up to 3,000 soldiers killed in a CNN interview in mid-April.

“Russia wants to destroy every city in Donbass”

In the meantime, fighting in eastern Ukraine continues without major changes in the course of the front. The Ukrainian side speaks of the success of their artillery thanks to Western ammunition – and appeals to increase the pace of arms deliveries. The effectiveness of the Ukrainian armed forces depends on the delivery of western weapons, Zelenskyj said in his evening video address. The troops would do anything to stop the Russian offensive as long as there were enough heavy weapons and artillery.

“Russia wants to destroy every city in the Donbass, ‘every’ is no exaggeration. Like Volnovakha, like Mariupol,” said Zelenskyy. “All these ruins of once happy cities, the black marks of fires, the craters of explosions: that’s all Russia can give to its neighbors, Europe, to the world.”

Apparently cholera in Mariupol

The mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is controlled by Russian troops, has called on the United Nations and the International Red Cross to work to set up an escape corridor so that the remaining residents can leave the city. Cholera had broken out. “There is an outbreak of dysentery and cholera,” he said on Ukrainian television. “The war, which has claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, will unfortunately claim the lives of thousands more people in Mariupol with these outbreaks of infection.” The sanitary facilities had been destroyed. Bodies decomposed in the streets.

Mayor: Russians tear down houses with dead people

He also accused the occupiers of demolishing apartment buildings in the city without first recovering the bodies of the dead residents. The dead would be taken away with the rubble, Boitschenko wrote in the Telegram news service.

In the port city, which had been besieged by Russian troops for weeks, 1,300 buildings were destroyed and 50 to 100 people are believed to have died under each of the multi-story houses. The information cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian authorities estimated the number of civilians killed in Mariupol at up to 20,000 before it was captured by Russian troops.

Russia issues passports in Ukrainian territory

Meanwhile, Russia continues its attempts to tie occupied Ukrainian territories closer to itself. Starting today, Russian passports are to be handed out in parts of the Zaporizhia region controlled by Russian troops. The recipients would then be considered full citizens of Russia, a member of the occupation authorities Vladimir Rogov told Rossiya-24 TV channel. According to him, more than 70,000 people have applied there.

President Vladimir Putin simplified the procedure for obtaining Russian passports in May. Russia also distributes them in other occupied territories and introduces the ruble there as a means of payment. Ukrainian authorities accuse the occupiers of forcing people into Russian citizenship and fear an annexation of the occupied territories.