If Ukraine now tries to storm the ORDLO, our immediate losses could amount to 40 to 50 thousand people. The total losses for attempts to recapture the Donbas could reach hundreds of thousands of people.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this in an interview with Ukrainian media.
"It [the losses] will immediately amount to 40-50 thousand of our people, immediately, if we just say "let's go" with no tactics, no strategy, nothing. That won't happen. It will cost us hundreds of thousands of people in general," – he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also added that Russia would immediately take advantage of that.
"If we want to lose the strongest and most experienced people [the servicepeople of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – LB.ua] because "I want it now", we must understand that [the occupiers – LB.ua] will come back to us, and not in two or three years, but they will return the same month to the same positions, to the same Buchas again [recently reclaimed cities – tr.]», – he said.
The President added that he would consider it a victory if Ukraine managed to reach an agreement with the russian federation that would lead to the aggressor country withdrawing its forces to the positions as of 23 February 2022. A journalist asked to clarify whether he was talking about a diplomatic victory or winning the war. Zelenskyy answered that that would mean winning the war because he realized the losses Ukraine had suffered so far and their possible extent in the future.
Yesterday President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the composition of the delegation for the talks with Russia about the preparation and agreement on the project of the treaty about the security guarantees for Ukraine.