Zelensky, in his usual daily speech, which was posted on videotape Saturday evening, addressed Russian soldiers directly in Russian.
The Ukrainian leader said Russia was recruiting new forces “with little motivation and little combat experience” to reinforce units that suffered losses during the first weeks of the invasion.
After failing to capture the capital, Kyiv, the military focused on a new offensive in eastern Ukraine to try to secure complete control of the Donbass River and create a land corridor with Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian military leaders are aware that thousands of soldiers may die and thousands more may be injured in the coming weeks.
“Russian leaders lie to their soldiers when they tell them that they can expect to hold them seriously for refusing to fight,” Zelensky said.
They were not told, for example, that the Russian army is preparing additional refrigerated trucks for storing bodies. “They are not telling them about the new losses that the generals are expecting,” the Ukrainian president said.
Every Russian soldier can still save his life. “It is better to live in Russia than to die in our land,” Zelensky said.
According to information released by British intelligence on Saturday, Russia continues to have problems with tactical coordination in Ukraine and its air support is inconsistent.
A report submitted by the British Ministry of Defense added that Russia hopes to correct the problems that limited the invasion by geographically concentrating combat power, shortening supply lines and simplifying command and control.
The report adds that Russia has had to incorporate units that failed to make progress in northwest Ukraine, noting that many of these units may be morally exhausted.
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