Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced official casualty figures for the Ukrainian army for the first time: 31,000 soldiers have been killed since Russia’s war of aggression began two years ago, as Zelenskyj said at a press conference on Sunday. American estimates, on the other hand, assume that the number of victims is much higher.
“I don’t want to say the number of injured,” Zelensky said on Sunday. Zelensky rejected the loss figures quoted so far by the American and Russian sides. “This is all nonsense.” Zelensky estimated Russian losses at 180,000 dead and 500,000 wounded. The president’s statements could not initially be independently verified.
Ukraine has kept quiet so far
It is the first time that one of the warring parties has officially announced its own casualty figures. The number of casualties on the Russian side cited by Zelensky is significantly higher than the daily updated count of the Ukrainian armed forces, which put the total number of Russian losses on Sunday at 409,820 dead and wounded.
Zelensky declined to comment on the casualties among the Ukrainian population. These numbers are currently unknown, he said.
US figures significantly higher
The exact casualties among military personnel have so far been kept top secret by both sides. US estimates from summer 2023 put around 70,000 dead Ukrainian and 120,000 dead Russian soldiers. In mid-February, the US Defense Department estimated the number of killed or wounded Russian soldiers at 315,000.
Source: Krone
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