Zelenskyy mocks Putin for saying war is going to plan

But the Ukrainian president warned the nation against underestimating Russian troops

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv on April 12. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office / AP

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday mocked Moscow's insistence that the war against his nation was going well, asking how Vladimir Putin could have approved a plan that involved so many Russians dying.

Mr Putin on Tuesday said Russia would achieve all of its "noble" aims and "rhythmically and calmly" continue what it calls a special military operation.

Moscow said on March 25, its most recent update, that 1,351 soldiers had been killed since the start of the campaign. Ukraine says the real number is closer to 20,000.

"In Russia it was once again said that their so-called 'special operation' is supposedly going according to plan," Mr Zelenskyy said in his regular video address.

"But to be honest, no one in the world understands how such a plan could even come about.

"How could a plan that provides for the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in a little more than a month of war, come about? Who could approve such a plan?"

Russia's initial offensive towards Kyiv failed to seize the capital from Ukrainian control and western governments have spoken of low morale among its troops, with Moscow thought to be turning to mercenaries and recruits from a disputed region of Moldova to shore up numbers.

Ukraine is now bracing for a renewed offensive in the south and east of the region as Russia tries to conquer the city of Mariupol to establish a link between the annexed Crimean peninsula and separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

Mr Putin used his first public comments on the war in a week to say he was confident that his army would achieve its goals in Ukraine, where the Kremlin claims it is neutralising threats to Russia.

But Mr Zelenskyy asked how many dead Russian soldiers would be acceptable to Mr Putin, giving a range of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

Moscow had lost more men in 48 days since the war started than in the 10-year Afghan war from 1979 to 1989, he said.

A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA

A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters

Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA

Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters

A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP

A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters

A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters

Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters

A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP

Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP

Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA

A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA

Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA

A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA

President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP

Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP

Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP

Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP

Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP

A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters

A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA

Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA

A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA

Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP

Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP

A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters

Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters

Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters

A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters

Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters

A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters

Mr Zelenskyy said that while some had made fun of the Russians, their failures in the field and inferior technology, their opponents were not all hopeless.

"We must understand that not all Russian tanks are stuck in fields, not all enemy soldiers simply flee the battlefield and not all of them are conscripts who do not know how to hold weapons properly," he said.

"This does not mean that we should be afraid of them. This means that we must not diminish the accomplishments of our fighters, our army."