Zelenskyy Confirms 31,000 Military Personnel Killed in Two Years of War with Russia
Kyiv, The Gulf Observer: In a solemn announcement at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives in the two years since Russia initiated its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The figure starkly contrasts with estimates provided by the Russian government, with Zelenskyy emphasizing that the toll is significantly lower than the numbers claimed by President Vladimir Putin’s administration.
President Zelenskyy stated, “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.” The disclosure marks the first time Kyiv has officially confirmed the number of casualties since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale war on February 24, 2022.
Zelenskyy chose not to reveal the number of troops who were wounded or missing, emphasizing that such details would not be disclosed until the war concludes. Additionally, he acknowledged the tragic loss of “tens of thousands of civilians” in the occupied areas of Ukraine, expressing the difficulty of providing exact figures until the conflict concludes. He stated, “We don’t know how many of our civilians they killed. We don’t.”
Russia, on the other hand, has been reticent in providing official casualty figures. The most recent data from the Russian Defense Ministry, published in January 2023, indicated just over 6,000 deaths. However, reports from U.S. and U.K. officials diverged significantly, with a declassified U.S. intelligence report estimating that 315,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in Ukraine by mid-December 2023. If accurate, this would represent a staggering 87% of the approximately 360,000 troops Russia had before the war, according to the report.
Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reported on Saturday that approximately 75,000 Russian men lost their lives in 2022 and 2023 while fighting in the war. A joint investigation by Mediazona and Meduza, another independent Russian news site, suggests that Russia’s losses in Ukraine are not abating, revealing a disconcerting trend of approximately 120 Russian casualties daily.
The grim disclosure by President Zelenskyy highlights the human cost of the ongoing conflict and underscores the challenges in reconciling the disparate casualty figures provided by the involved parties.
