The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has admitted to high losses in his own ranks – which are supporting Russia in its war on Ukraine – after an artillery shelling by Ukrainian troops.
"Twenty-three fighters have died and 58 have been injured," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel late on Thursday. Ukrainian sources had reported earlier this week that a Chechen unit in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson had given away its location via photos on social networks, which led to it being hit by artillery fire.
Normally, Russian officials do not publish figures on their own casualties. In this case, Kadyrov may have been challenging the even higher figures given by the Ukrainian side.
The Chechen leader also called on his compatriots to be mobilized for the war in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian war more than eight months ago, Kadyrov has distinguished himself as one of the fiercest supporters of the conflict and has also sent his own units into Ukraine.
He has regularly criticized the Russian army leadership – often in conjunction with the financier of the mercenary Wagner units, Yevgeny Prigozhin, for being too soft. Kadyrov has also called for the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has compared his country's fight against Russia with the Nazi resistance in World War II, saying Russia is pursuing the same goals as Nazism once did.
"The form of evil has changed, but the essence is unchanged," Zelenskyy said in a video message broadcast in Kyiv on Thursday night. Russia, he said, had gone from neighbor to aggressor to terrorist – and was guilty of war crimes.
Standing next to a downed combat drone, Zelenskyy said that peaceful towns were repeatedly being attacked with bombs and missiles. In the past two days alone, there had been 30 Russian attacks with Iranian drones, 23 of which had been shot down, he said.
Russia mines or occupies power plants and steals grain to threaten the world with hunger, he said. He accused Moscow of abducting people, including children.
Referring to World War II and the Ukrainians' struggle against the Nazis, Zelenskyy said that "evil has risen again from the ashes after 80 years."
He lamented that, since the beginning of the full-scale war on Feb. 24, Russia had launched 4,500 missiles at Ukraine and flown a total of 8,000 airstrikes.
Zelenskyy stressed that Ukrainian resistance was strong. The country would not let itself be broken.
The president expressed confidence that the invading power would capitulate and take flight. Russia would pay reparations and the occupied territories of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea would be free again, he vowed.
"Russia's only tactic is terror," Zelenskyy said. That could only lead to defeat, he added.
In reference to the power cuts caused by destroyed energy infrastructure, he said that darkness was not a life without light, but without freedom. Ukrainians would also survive the harsh winter. "We are not afraid of the dark," Zelenskyy said.