The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, today put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed since the beginning of the large-scale Russian military invasion two years ago at 31,000.
It is the first time that the Ukrainian side has given a specific number of deaths in its own ranks during this war.
“31,000 Ukrainians, military personnel, have died in this war,” Zelensky said when asked about the number of casualties.
The number, he explained, does not include injured or missing soldiers. “That’s a lot of people for us,” said Zelensky, who rejected estimates that put the Ukrainian death toll at up to 300,000.
The Ukrainian president did not want to give the number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers so as not to help Russia know the number of Ukrainians who have gone to the front.
Zelensky also offered a number of Russian soldiers killed in this war. “180,000 Russians have died,” said the Ukrainian head of state. Another half a million Russian soldiers, he added, have been wounded in the fighting.
The Ukrainian president also said that “tens of thousands of civilians” have died or been murdered after being tortured in the Russian-occupied territories. Zelensky explained that the exact number will only be known when the war ends.
Zelensky made these statements at a press conference held in kyiv on the occasion of the second anniversary of the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. EFE
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