Some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began two years ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, acknowledging for the first time in the war a specific figure for Ukraine’s dead.
“This is a great loss for us,” Mr Zelensky told a news conference in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. But he declined to reveal the number of wounded or missing, saying Russia could use the information to gauge the number of active Ukrainian forces.
Mr. Zelensky’s account could not be independently verified. It differs significantly from estimates by US officials, who last summer put the toll much higher, saying nearly 70,000 Ukrainians had been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded. Russian military casualties, the officials said, were about double that.
Mr Zelensky’s unusual admission came as his country’s armed forces are now at the back of the 600-mile front line, with Russian troops pressing attacks in the east and south. Ukraine’s military leaders have long said they need more troops to repel Russia’s relentless attacks. A mobilization bill that could pave the way for a large-scale draft of up to 500,000 troops is making its way through Ukraine’s parliament.
