Ukraine: 100-200 soldiers die daily, new plea for more arms

Relatives say goodbye to the dead Ukrainian soldier in Poltava, Ukraine, on June 10, 2022. (Photo by Pavlo Pakhomenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images) KYIV, Ukraine - Up to 200 Ukrainian soldiers are being killed every day in Russia’s military onslaught, according to an adviser to Ukraine’s president — and only more and more advanced Western weaponry will turn back the Russian offensive, reduce the casualties and force Moscow to the negotiating table.Mykhailo Podolyak told the BBC in an interview aired Thursday that the daily loss of between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers is the result of a "complete lack of parity" between Ukraine and Russia, which has "thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front" in its bid to advance in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and beyond.Recently Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the daily death toll at up to 100, but Podolyak said it had grown.

Ukrainian officials have pointed at the mounting losses to emphasize their demand for more Western weapons, which have been critical to the country’s unexpected success in holding off the larger and better equipped Russian forces.After a bungled attempt to overrun Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia shifted its focus to the Donbas region of coal mines and factories.

But its progress there has been plodding.Podolyak said delivery of state-of-the-art artillery systems would not only curb Ukraine's death toll, it would help its forces reclaim seized territory."There’s something really important thing that our partners need to understand, and that’s until Russia suffers a serious military defeat, no form of dialogue will be possible, and they will continue to be able to try and take parts of our country," he said.Podolyak also.