Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today expressed satisfaction with the failure of Russia's "insidious" plans to invade his country and his pride in the "heroic" resistance of the Ukrainians.
"Our nation thwarted the enemy's plans within a week. "Plans written years ago: insidious, full of hatred for our country, for our people", said Mr. Zelenski in a video that was uploaded on the Telegram platform.
He added that he "sincerely admires the heroic inhabitants" of cities that resist Russian forces and prevent their advance as the invasion enters its eighth day.
He asserted that some 9.000 Russian servicemen had been killed in the past week. This number is impossible to confirm independently.
Moscow on its part announced on Wednesday the first report of the losses suffered by the Russian army during its attack on Ukraine. He spoke of 498 dead soldiers and 1.597 wounded.
On Twitter, Mr Zelensky also said he had spoken by telephone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trinto and thanked him for the sanctions imposed by Ottawa on Moscow, urging him to move on.
He also said that he had talked with the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim Yomart Tokayev, an ally of Moscow, and that they had agreed to "cooperate on humanitarian issues."
Source: RES-EAP