President Zelensky Admits Ukraine's Attack May Not Reach Maximum Results, But Russia Suffers Big Loss

President Zelensky was listening to directions from the Ukrainian military. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces suffered heavy losses, assessing Moscow's notion of winning a war that has lasted for nearly two years is just a "feeling" that is not based on reality, although at the same time admitting it may be that the retaliatory attacks of its troops may not have achieved maximum results.

"Thousands, thousands of Russian soldiers were killed, not even taking them away," he told The Economist magazine in an interview published on Monday, referring to fighting around Avdivka City in the eastern part he visited last week.

President Zelensky gave no evidence to support his statement, but Western military analysts agreed Russia should pay dearly in terms of troops and equipment, to achieve relatively small progress in eastern and southern Ukraine.

President Zelensky acknowledged the retaliatory attacks supported by Western advanced weapons may not work "as the world wants. Maybe not everything is as fast as imagined."

Instead, he praised the "big result" of Ukrainian troops breaking through the Russian Black Sea blockade, allowing the export of grains via new routes along its southern coast.

If Ukraine loses the war, he said, Russia will be encouraged to advance against other countries. There was no response to a request for comment from Russian officials regarding President Zelensky's statement.

Russian officials say Western estimates regarding the death toll in Russia are too exaggerated and almost always underestimate the number of casualties in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month Russia's position was improving and his party would not stop what he called a "special military operation" until its goals, including "denazification, demilitarization and neutral status" Ukraine, were achieved.

Russian officials consider the retaliatory attacks of Ukraine launched in mid-2023 in the east and south a failure.

With support for Ukraine facing obstacles in the United States and the European Union, much remains to be done to convince the world that defending Ukraine means defending the world, President Zelensky said.

"Maybe something is missing. Or maybe something is missing," he told the magazine.

"A person who can talk about Ukraine as a defense of all of us."

President Zelensky acknowledged the "mobilization of the Ukrainian people and the world" which was so strong at the start of the Russian invasion no longer existed.

Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine volunteer for war in the first months of the Russian invasion, but that enthusiasm faded 22 months later.

"That needs to be changed. Mobilization is not just a matter of soldiers advancing to the front line. This is a matter of all of us. This is the mobilization of all efforts. This is the only way to protect our country and lift the occupation of our land," he explained.

"Winnings are not accepted or given, victory is obtained," President Zelensky said in a New Year's message to Ukrainians.

"And to achieve this goal, today we have to live according to the rules: you have to work or fight," he said.