Ukraine update: Russian losses “significantly higher”

The essentials in brief:

– Ukrainian losses “up to 10 times lower” than Russian ones

– Ukrainian Air Force again asks for modern fighter jets

– Spain gives tanks but no planes

– Zelenskyj: “Democracy needs our victory”

The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar has for the first time given concrete insights into the losses of the armed forces. Accordingly, the number of dead on the Russian side is significantly higher than on the Ukrainian side. “There are days in the east when the ratio of losses is 1 to 10,” she said on Telegram on Wednesday. This is “of course not every day” the case and the average ratio is lower.

So far, the Ukrainian military has not provided any information on its own losses since the war began more than a year ago. On the other hand, a daily statistic is published with the alleged losses of the Russian military. According to this, the Russian armed forces have so far suffered over 172,000 deaths.

The Russian military, for its part, does not provide any information on its own losses. “Unfortunately, casualties are an inevitable consequence of war,” Maljar wrote. “There is no war without casualties.”

Modern fighter jets urgently needed

According to its spokesman Yuri Ihnat, Ukraine’s air force “urgently” needs modern combat aircraft. “Neither Polish nor Czech Migs help us, nor do Mirages or Tornados,” said Ihnat on Ukrainian television on Wednesday. While the Migs received from the neighbors are a welcome and necessary reinforcement, Ukraine needs more multirole combat aircraft.

The aircraft needed by Ukraine should be able to operate “in the sky, over the ground and over the sea”. “That would be the (US) F-16 or other machines of this class from the fourth generation,” Ihnat said. Since the training of pilots and ground staff on these machines is “not a simple process”, a decision “if possible yesterday” would be necessary.

In the past few months, Ukraine’s leadership has repeatedly asked for the delivery of modern fighter jets, but this has not gone through even with its strongest ally, the USA. Recent media reports about the alleged training of Ukrainian pilots on Mirage jets in France were recently denied in Kiev.

Spain gives tanks but no planes

Spain wants to deliver ten older Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, but has ruled out sending fighter jets. The first six tanks will be delivered in two weeks, Defense Minister Margarita Robles said at a parliamentary debate on Spanish military aid to Ukraine. Four more tanks will be sent at a later date because they still need to be repaired.

The minister in the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez “categorically” ruled out the sending of fighter jets. Spain does not have the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine wants. Other models are out of the question, as the Ukrainian pilots would need up to two years of training, the minister stressed in the lower house of parliament. She said fighting in Ukraine was expected to escalate, which could lead to a “bloody spring”.

In the past few weeks, 55 Ukrainians have been trained as crew members and technicians on Leopard main battle tanks in Spain. In total, the country has 347 Leopard tanks. Of these, 108 belong to the older variant 2A4 and 239 to the newer type 2A6, which is called 2E in Spain. So far, however, Spain does not want to hand over any of these newer, more powerful tanks to Ukraine. They would be needed for their own national defense. The Ukrainian armed forces have already received a good 30 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, Canada and Poland to ward off the Russian attack.

Selenskyj at the virtual World Summit for Democracy

After attending the virtual world summit for democracy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that democracy absolutely needs a victory as soon as possible. “And we all together – Ukrainians, all Europeans, our American allies, our friends on all continents – in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australia – will do everything to bring this victory closer,” Zelenskyy said in his video address every evening.

The US is hosting the virtual summit along with Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia. US President Joe Biden had already invited to a virtual meeting of this kind in December 2021.

mak/rb/kle (dpa, afp, rtr)

This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from the combat zones cannot be independently verified.