Reporting on the statement by Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia in New York yesterday, Russian Mission to the United Nations quoted him as saying:
“Zelenskyy is ignoring the interests and opinions of his citizens, a significant number of whom are now speaking against new escalatory steps, since such steps may lead to the destruction of new enterprises and energy facilities, which are important for the Ukrainian economy. As a result, many experts now question Ukraine’s ability to survive the winter; however, the former comedian, who has lost his legitimacy but is still clinging to power, is ready to gamble with his country that he has held hostage, and sacrifice all of its citizens.…
“According to the Ukrainian military commanders themselves, by the end of November, the number of deserters amounted to 200,000 people, with 85,000 Ukrainian military deserting in November alone, which is three times as high as in October. Ukrainian military personnel which are being trained abroad are also deserting—in Poland alone, an average of 12 people leave the training grounds every month. France reported that half of the Anna Kievskaya brigade, which had been trained in that country, left the battlefield and the rest of the brigade was disbanded. And this is the elite of the Ukrainian army. Furthermore, the losses of the Ukrainian army in 2024 exceeded 560,000 servicemen (killed or wounded), and since the beginning of 2022 that number is over 1 million.”
