"Losses currently comparable": Kyiv expects the end of the war in two to six months

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Podoljak assumes around 80,000 dead and injured on the Russian side.

"Losses currently comparable": Kyiv expects the end of the war in two to six months

The Ukrainian presidential adviser Podoljak assumes around 80,000 dead and injured on the Russian side. However, the current losses on both sides are comparable. In his estimation, the war is likely to last a few more months.

The Ukrainian presidential administration predicts that the Russian war of aggression could last up to six months. "It can take another two to six months," said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak in an interview with the opposition Russian online portal Medusa, referring to the possible duration of the war. In the end it depends on how the mood in the societies of Europe, Ukraine and Russia changes.

There will only be negotiations when the situation on the battlefield changes and Russia no longer feels that it can dictate the terms, Podoljak said. He once again warned against territorial concessions to Russia. That won't end the war. "Because it is fundamental for the Russian Federation - and Mr. (Vladimir) Putin said this several times - that the mere existence of Ukrainian statehood is harmful." The Russian advance is therefore less aimed at conquering specific areas than at destroying Ukraine itself.

Podoljak estimated Russian losses at a total of 80,000 people. The dead and wounded in the regular army, the separatists and the mercenary group "Wagner". However, he conceded that after a catastrophic initial phase of the war for Moscow with up to 1,000 war casualties per day, the current losses of Russian and Ukrainian troops are "comparable". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently put his own losses at up to 100 dead and 500 injured every day.