Zelenskyy: Russia losing three times more troops

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 19, 2025
Reuters

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian forces are suffering battlefield losses nearly three times higher than those of Ukraine, even as Moscow maintains a significant numerical advantage in manpower and artillery.

Speaking to journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that on 11 August alone, Russia lost 968 personnel-531 killed, 428 wounded and nine taken prisoner compared to Ukraine’s 340 losses, which included 18 killed, 243 wounded and 79 missing.

He noted that Russia still enjoys a three-to-one superiority in troop numbers and a 1-to-2.4 advantage in artillery. However, Ukraine holds a narrow lead in the deployment of first-person-view (FPV) drones, with a ratio of 1 to 1.4, a gap that Zelenskyy said could widen to as much as four to one if additional European funding is secured.

Later on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader will travel to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and to take part in a video conference with U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders from Germany, Finland, France, the UK, Italy and Poland. Discussions are expected to focus on military assistance and coordination within what officials are calling the “coalition of the willing.” Joint statements from Berlin may follow the meeting, which is scheduled for late afternoon.

AnewZ’s journalist Fikrat Dolukhanov is in Kharkiv with updates on the latest developments.

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