Zelenski says mobilization in Russia highlights problems of its Armed Forces

Follow live the latest news on the war in Ukraine

Zelenski urges Germany to send battle tanks to Kiev to “save more lives.”

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski has claimed that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s decision to mobilize 300,000 reservists is evidence that Russian forces have a serious manpower problem.

“We already know that they have mobilized their cadets, guys who don’t know how to fight. Those cadets have died. They have not even been able to complete their training,” Zelenski told the ‘Bild’ newspaper, in his first reaction after the Russian draft.

The Ukrainian president has stated that Russia would need an Army of one million troops to continue conquering territories, but its troops “are still on the run.”

In this regard, he has accused Putin of wreaking not only havoc in Ukraine, but also of causing the death of thousands of his servicemen. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday put the number of Russians killed in the war at about 6,000.

On the threat made by Putin regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons, Zelenski is confident that it will come to nothing, as he believes that the international community will find a way to stop it if it comes to that.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian leader has taken the occasion to reaffirm his request to the German authorities to materialize the shipment of battle tanks to Kiev. “Give us those weapons,” he has said.

“As of today, for us those battle tanks mean that more lives can be saved,” Zelenski has said, who has rejected Berlin’s argument, which bets on not acting independently from the rest of the Atlantic Alliance partners.

The German Parliament will soon vote on a petition to allow the export of battle tanks, infantry and transport vehicles to Ukraine. No NATO country has so far supplied Kiev with Western-made battle tanks.

This is why the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, defends the position of not acting independently of the allies. Zelenski, for his part, has already reproached him on previous occasions for this attitude and has stressed that he does not understand “certain steps” taken by the German Executive.