June 10 (UPI) -- A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said military casualties against Russian forces are as high as 200 a day as Kyiv tries to hold on to key cities and start counteroffensives in other locations.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Thursday Ukrainian military casualties are between 100 and 200 a day. Zelensky had said last week that the Ukrainian army war dead was totaling 60 to 100 soldiers a day.
The news comes as Ukraine continued to hang on to the key eastern hub of Severodonetsk amid fierce street fighting with the Russian military. Ukrainian authorities there said they are massively outgunned as Moscow controls most of the city in its plan to cut off eastern Ukraine from the rest of the country.
"Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on," Zelensky said.
Ukraine has marked success in other areas. Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said Russia has failed to advance in its region despite heavy shelling.
The British Defense Ministry said Russia is struggling to provide basic public services in the Ukrainian areas it now occupies. Safe drinking water and infrastructure that was bombed remain spotty in these areas. Phone and Internet service continues to be disrupted.
"There is likely a critical shortage of medicines in Kherson, while Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak," the British military said on Twitter. "Isolated cases of cholera have been reported since May. Ukraine suffered a major cholera epidemic in 1995, and has experienced minor outbreaks since, especially around the Azov Sea coast, which includes Mariupol.
"Medical services in Mariupol are likely already near collapse: a major cholera outbreak in Mariupol will exacerbate this further."