Over 30,000 Ukrainian troops have died defending the country from Russia’s recent invasion, says Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It is the first time Ukraine has presented casualty figures since the start of the current invasion in 2024.
Ukraine will continue to fight on for the sake of its occupied territories, including Crimea, Zelenskyy insists.
He would not comment on numbers of troops who were injured or missing in action, Zeenskyy told an event Sunday.
He denounced Russian attempts to inflate Ukrainian casualties.
The casualty figures are from Russia’s large-scale invasion on February 24 2022 to now. The two countries have been in low-level conflict since Moscow’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.
“31,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in this war,” Zelenskyy said. “Not 300,000, not 150,000, not whatever Putin and his deceitful circle have been lying about.”
Russia’s invasion had also led to deaths of “tens of thousands of civilians”, though an accurate number would only be possible after the war was over, Zelenskyy added.
“We don’t know how many of our civilians they killed. We don’t,” he said.
"Until you change this policy, you can't expect us to welcome you into our family."
Czech MEP @AlexandrVondra tells Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán he must change his attitude towards Ukraine before his party can join the ECR group.
Watch the full interview at https://t.co/64W8ww3Paq pic.twitter.com/n6Mcygy3lj
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 22, 2024
Zelenskyy’s 30,000 figure raised some eyebrows in the West, where the number fell below previous estimates.
According to a report in the New York Times, US officials in August 2023 estimated the number of dead Ukrainian soldiers around 70,000, more than twice Zelenskyy’s figure.
Regardless of the death toll, Zelenskyy insists Ukraine must continue fighting to free all of its currently occupied territories, including the long-annexed Crimean peninsula.
“We must fight for the people in Crimea and in all other occupied parts of Ukraine,” he said Monday.
“We must fight for the full restoration of international law in relation to Crimea, and therefore, any other land,” he added. “Winning on each of these points means quelling Russian revanchism, that is, actually ending the war.”
Western European leaders are adamant their countries will continue backing Ukraine’s defensive efforts, with many gathering in Paris on Monday to reaffirm their support.
“Battered and bruised, but still standing,” French President Emmanuel Macron said ahead of the conference.
“Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment at its side will not waver.”
Kyiv has urged Poland to punish those responsible for Ukrainian grain spills at the border over the weekend, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Monday. https://t.co/QRKmZAoPv6
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 26, 2024
