The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov currently assesses the situation on the front as difficult.

"Every day up to 100 of our soldiers are killed and up to 500 wounded," Reznikov wrote on Facebook.

Russia suffers great losses.

"But there are still forces advancing in some parts of the front," he stressed.

Ukraine urgently needs heavy weapons.

“We have proved that, unlike many others, we do not fear the Kremlin.

But as a country we cannot afford to lose our best sons and daughters.” Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak even spoke of 100 to 200 deaths every day.

"The Russians have significantly more casualties than the Ukrainians," Luhansk Governor Serhiy Hajday said on Facebook.

The ratio is "one to ten". The Russian army has withdrawn the remains of units from the Republic of Buryatia in Russia's Far East.

"They die like flies," said Hajdaj.

The information is not independently verifiable.

Putin compares himself to Peter the Great

Meanwhile, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Moscow placed the armed conflict he had ordered against Ukraine on the same level as the Great Northern War under Tsar Peter I – and spoke of a return operation on Russian soil.

Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24.

For Kyiv, Friday is the 107th day of the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised Ukraine that more heavy weapons will be supplied if necessary.

On the other hand, it is still unclear when Germany will deliver the weapons recently promised to Ukraine, complained the ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk.

Meanwhile, Kyiv criticized the death sentence of the Supreme Court of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic against three foreign fighters of the Ukrainian army.

Nothing new in the east

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sees his country's situation in the war against the Russian aggressors as complicated.

On the battlefield in the east of the country, the Ukrainian army is bravely braving the enemy, he said.

The situation at the front was "without any significant changes," Zelenskyj said in a video message on Thursday.

The strategically important town of Sievarodonetsk and its neighboring city of Lysychansk, as well as other cities in the Donbass that Russian attackers currently consider key targets in the east of the country, could defend themselves effectively.

He campaigned for further rapprochement between the EU and his country.

"Most Europeans support the integration of Ukraine."

France pledges more heavy weapons to Ukraine

French President Macron pledged to supply Ukraine with more heavy weapons if needed.

In a phone call with Zelenskyy, Macron emphasized that his country was still on Ukraine's side, the Élysée Palace said.

Macron asked Zelenskyy about needs in terms of military equipment, political and financial support, and humanitarian aid.