Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just revealed Ukraine’s total casualties in the war against Russia for the first time.
While his opponent Vladimir Putin has refused to openly discuss Russia’s losses, the Ukrainian president finally put a number on his country’s wartime death toll on Sunday.
In a social media post, the Ukrainian president wrote: “Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers killed in action on the battlefield.”
He added that 370,000 had been wounded, noting: “Approximately half of the soldiers wounded in action are later returning to the battlefield, and that our data also includes light or repeat injuries.”
Zelenskyy also noted: “Since February 24, 2022, we have already managed to bring 3,935 of our people home—3,767 soldiers and 168 civilians.”
Zelenskyy’s willingness to share this usually closely guarded secret comes shortly after US president-elect Donald Trump claimed Ukraine had “ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers” after Putin invaded.
In February, the Ukrainian president said 31,000 troops had been killed in action but did not reveal how many were wounded to avoid giving Russia too much information.
Zelenskyy also claimed in yesterday’s post that Russia’s losses are much higher, losing five or six troops for every Ukrainian soldier lost in the war.
He said: “Updated data on Russian losses show over 750,000 casualties, including 198,000 killed and more than 550,000 wounded.”
Putin has refused to discuss how many casualties his army has endured throughout the war.
In June, he told reporters that as a rule, “no one talks about it” – but claimed Ukraine loses 50,000 people each month.
However, his deputy defence minister accidentally revealed that 48,000 people were missing in the war last week – potentially Russia’s death toll – in a televised meeting.
Ana Tsivilyova was quickly shut down by her colleague, who told any viewers: “I earnestly ask you not to use these figures anywhere.
“This is such sensitive, closed information. And when we draw up the final documents, we should not include these figures anywhere.”
The Kremlin also hit back at Trump on Sunday after he speculated Russia had endured around 600,000 losses since the war started.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said: “As for figures cited on losses on both sides, obviously, they were given in a Ukrainian interpretation and reflect Ukraine’s official stance.
“The actual figures for losses are completely different: Ukrainian losses exponentially surpass the losses on the Russian side.”
Zelenskyy’s post suggested he brought up the death toll to emphasis the importance of securing a ceasefire with guarantees in a future peace deal with Russia.
He said: “To guarantee that there will be no more Ukrainian casualties, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to the occupation.”
Taking aim at his Russian counterpart, Zelenskyy added: “We know Putin very well—he is addicted to war. He began his career with a brutal war against Chechnya and has been constantly fuelling other wars.
“He can only be stopped by strength—the strength of world leaders who can become leaders of peace. We count on America and the entire world to help stop Putin. The only things he fears are America and global unity.”
