MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. The number of Russian troops stationed in the combat zone is seven to ten times greater than that of Kiev forces, Lieutenant General Yury Sodol, commander of the Ukrainian army’s Joint Forces, said.

"The enemy outnumbers us seven to ten times. We lack manpower," he said, addressing the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), according to a YouTube video posted by Rada member Alexey Goncharenko (designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia).

Sodol added that as a result, brigades are only capable of holding a five-kilometer-long section of the frontline, a far cry from the 15 kilometers that is needed.

Earlier on Thursday, the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill tightening mobilization rules. The document has been quite controversial, causing an uproar on social media in recent months as it will make it possible to call up an additional several hundred thousand Ukrainians, according to media estimates.