Russia must lose 50,000 occupiers per month so it cannot replenish its army – Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during the presentation of the initiative to assess the effectiveness of drone units, electronic points, Ukrinform reports.

Zelensky said that the task of Ukrainian units was to ensure such a level of destruction of the occupier that Russian losses would exceed the number of troops Russia was able to replenish each month. He stressed that this was a realistic objective and explained that losses of about 50,000 Russian personnel per month constituted the optimal level. He acknowledged that this was a very difficult task but emphasized that it was precisely the level at which Russia would begin to reconsider what it was doing and what it was fighting for.

Zelensky noted that ensuring such losses for the enemy is the task of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the army, and all defense and security forces. This goal can be achieved primarily through drones of various types, thorough analysis and conclusions from combat operations, as well as a high level of training and coordination among units.

He emphasized that much of the experience of Ukraine's most effective drone units needed to be scaled across all of the country's armed forces. At the same time, he noted that the level of Russian losses could not be the first and last key objective of Ukraine's work with drones and technologies. He stressed the importance of increasing control of space deep beyond the front line in order to destroy the enemy's logistics, drone operators, and overall combat capability as an occupying force.

Zelensky also said that it was important to develop protection against Russian Shahed drones, other strike UAVs, and reconnaissance drones, noting that Ukraine needed more interceptors. He emphasized that the evolution of Ukrainian interceptors must not lag behind changes in Russian strike drones and underlined that Ukraine had to maintain leadership and prevail in every cycle of technological development.

He further noted that in December 2025 Ukrainian units destroyed 35,000 occupiers and added that over ten years of war in Afghanistan the Soviet army had suffered only half as many losses as Russia had sustained in a single month of the current war.

As Ukrinform reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that currently more than 80% of enemy targets are destroyed by drones. In particular, over the past year drones struck 819,737 targets.

Photo: Office of the President