Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action in the two years since Russia launched its invasion.
„31,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000, not whatever Putin and his deceitful circle have been lying about. But nevertheless, each of these losses is a great sacrifice for us,” Zelensky said Sunday at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv.
It is the first time that Kyiv has confirmed the number of its losses since Moscow started the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Zelensky also said that “tens of thousands of civilians” had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but said that no exact figures would be available until the war was over.
“We don’t know how many of our civilians they killed. We don’t,” he said.
Russia has provided few official casualty figures. The most recent data from the defense ministry, published in January 2023, pointed to just over 6,000 deaths.
But according to British military defense some 350,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded over the past two years. If the figure is accurate, this would represent more than 80% of the roughly 360,000 troops Russia had before the war.
Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said Saturday that about 75,000 Russian men died in 2022 and 2023 fighting in the war.
A joint investigation published by Mediazona and Meduza, an independent Russian news site, says Moscow is losing about 120 men a day.
Separately, Zelensky warned Sunday that Russia was preparing to launch a new offensive in UKraine in the summer. He said that Kiev and its allies needed to remain united to face two difficult months „followed by a new assault.”
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