The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that 31000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed during Russia’s full-scale invasion during the ongoing conflict over the two years.
Zelensky’s discloser in a Press Conference indicated that these numbers shed new light on the human cost of the conflict, challenging the narrative perpetuated by Russian authorities.
The Ukrainian President also said he would not give the details of the exact numbers of wounded as that would help Russian military planning in the ongoing tussle.
“Not 300,000 or 150,000 or whatever numbers of death tolls Putin and his circle are saying. As per our figures, 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in this war. Each of these losses is a great loss for us,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Tens of thousands of civilians had died in the areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia which is a wider loss in war but the true numbers of toll are yet to be ascertained,” he said, adding that I don’t know how many of them died, killed, murdered, tortured or deported.
While US officials in August put the figures as 70,000 Ukrainian troops killed and as many as 120,000 wounded.
In terms of Russian losses, Zelensky said, 180,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and more than 10,000 were injured
Meanwhile, Russia has maintained a stance of secrecy regarding its own military losses, classifying such information as confidential. The stark disparity between official narratives on both sides underscores the complexities and challenges inherent in reporting on the toll of the conflict.
Zelensky’s candid disclosure not only illuminates the devastating human toll of the conflict but also underscores the ongoing challenges faced by Ukraine as it contends with the lasting impacts of the war
