The announcement shows that Russia has “problems with officers and other military personnel,” he said. “We already know they mobilized cadets — kids who couldn’t fight. These cadets fell. They couldn’t even complete their training. All these people can’t fight. They’ve come to us and they’re dying,” according to The Narrative of BILD for the interview, which he translated into German. “He sees that his units are just running away. He needs an army of millions to come to us. Because he sees that a large part of those who come to us are just running away.” CNN translated BILD’s report. “He wants to drown Ukraine in blood, but also in the blood of his own soldiers,” Zelensky added. Zelensky said he had not seen Putin’s speech. “It wasn’t my favorite video,” he said, adding that the speech was “nothing new to me.” BILD reported that Zelensky insisted that Ukraine’s plans to regain its territory would not be affected. “We will act step by step according to our plans. I am confident that we will liberate our territory,” he said, according to BILD. He said referendums planned by Kremlin-backed authorities later this week in occupied Ukrainian territories were “fake” and that 90% of governments would not recognize them. Zelesny also told BILD that he does not believe Putin will use nuclear weapons despite the Russian president’s thinly veiled warning earlier Wednesday. “I don’t believe he will use them. I don’t believe the world will allow him to use these weapons,” he said, adding that “we can’t look at that person’s head, there are risks.”
