Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the ongoing conflict with Russia. This is the first time Ukraine has officially disclosed its military casualties since the war began two years ago.
Zelenskyy emphasized that the figure is significantly lower than the “lies” circulated by the Russian government. He rejected claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration that estimated Ukrainian losses in the hundreds of thousands. “Each of these losses is a great sacrifice for us,” he stated during his address at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv.
The President refrained from disclosing the number of wounded or missing Ukrainian troops. He also acknowledged the death of “tens of thousands of civilians” in occupied areas, but emphasized that an accurate estimate is impossible until the war ends. “We don’t know how many of our civilians they killed. We don’t,” he admitted.
This announcement comes amid vastly differing casualty reports from various sources. Russia has been criticized for its lack of transparency, with the last official figure from the Defense Ministry in January 2023 placing their losses at a mere 6,000. However, Western intelligence reports and independent Russian media outlets paint a different picture. A declassified US intelligence report from December 2023 estimated Russian casualties at 315,000, roughly 87% of their pre-war troop strength. Additionally, the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported over 75,000 Russian deaths in 2022 and 2023, while a joint investigation by Mediazona and Meduza suggests ongoing losses of roughly 120 Russian soldiers per day.
The war in Ukraine has caused immense human cost, with both sides suffering significant casualties. Zelenskyy’s confirmation of Ukrainian losses serves as a stark reminder of the war’s tragic consequences, while simultaneously refuting the inflated narratives pushed by Russia.
