More than 120,000 Russian war crimes documented since start of war, Ukraine says

Russian forces have regularly been accused of executing unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The Red Cross was also not helping in returning Ukrainian children being held illegally in Russia and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, Yermak said. According to Kyiv, more than 20,000 Ukrainian children are being held.

‘It harms us’: Ukraine says half of Western arms delivered late

Zelensky told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.

Ukraine has not put a number to its military losses since the end of 2022, when presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the invasion on February 24.

Russia does not disclose military losses, which it regards as secret.

European leaders pledge to back Ukraine until nation is ‘finally free’

Also on Sunday, Zelensky said plans for Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive last year had been leaked to Russia ahead of time.

“Our counteroffensive action plans were on the Kremlin’s table before the counteroffensive actions began,” Zelensky said, adding that his military chiefs were preparing “several plans” for this year’s battlefield strategy and he could not disclose details publicly.

Kyiv’s troops conducted a counteroffensive last year, but were unable to break through prepared defensive lines in the Russian-occupied south and east.

“There is a plan [for a counteroffensive], the plan is clear, I can’t tell you the details,” Zelensky told a news conference in the capital Kyiv.

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He said a major military shake-up that saw the head of Ukraine’s military replaced earlier this month was connected to the new plan of action on the battlefield.

“This plan is related to the change of management, there are corresponding changes. Several plans will be prepared due to a leak of information,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky also said troop rotations were critically important for the war effort and that Ukraine needed to better prepare its reserve forces.

Additional reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse