Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with US broadcaster CNN, where the excerpts were published this Friday (15/04), Ukraine estimates that between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and around 10,000 wounded since the start of the war.

According to Zelensky, it is difficult to know how many of the injured will survive. In the interview, he also stated that up to 20,000 Russian soldiers died in the conflict. Ukraine’s estimate of Russian losses is much higher than that confirmed by Moscow. Russia recently admitted that it lost about 1,350 soldiers in the war.

In the interview, which will be broadcast on Sunday, Zelensky also expressed his fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin would resort to the use of nuclear or chemical weapons in the war. “Not just me, every country in the world should be worried,” he said. He added, “He can use chemical weapons because our lives are of no value to him. We should not think we are afraid, we should be prepared.”

In a traditional video message to the public, Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine faces an enormous challenge in rebuilding the reclaimed territories destroyed in the Russian offensive. The president also said that it is difficult to estimate the number of civilians killed in the fighting, as some areas are under Russian control and cities are under siege.

In Mariupol, which has been the target of intense bombing and has been under siege for two weeks, local officials estimate that as many as 20,000 civilians have died. According to the UN, no humanitarian aid convoys were allowed to enter the city, which is said to have almost no food and medicine supplies and is still home to 100,000 people.

Russia intensifies its attacks in Kiev

After the attack that sank the Russian missile cruiser Moscow in the Black Sea, Russia intensified its bombing in the Kyiv region. On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed a military munitions factory.

According to local media, in addition to Kiev, strong explosions were heard in various parts of the country, as well as in Lviv, early Saturday. Planes attacking the city in western Ukraine allegedly took off from an airport in Belarus.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said that rescue teams and first responders were dispatched to the areas hit by the attack in the Darnytsia region, where more than 1 million Ukrainians live. He urged the public not to ignore the warning sirens and to avoid returning to the capital.

In early April, Russian troops retreated from the area around the Ukrainian capital, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Hundreds of Ukrainians who fled the area after the retreat began to return to their homes as the bombing decreased significantly until Moscow fell.

The war has already caused the largest civilian exodus in Europe since World War II. According to the UN, more than 5 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in late February.