More than 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in war with Russia, says Zelensky

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky says more than 31,000 soldiers have died in the war against Russia (Picture: AFP)

Some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s invasion two years ago, president Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv following the Ukraine.Year 2024 forum, it’s the first time in more than a year the Ukrainian leader has disclosed the military death toll.

‘Thirty-one thousand Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in this war. Not 300,000 or 150,000, as Putin and his deceitful circle falsely claim,’ he said.

‘But nevertheless, this is a big loss for us.’

He said he would not reveal the number of soldiers wounded or missing because it would help Russian military planning.

‘We know about tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have been killed in the occupied territories,’ he added.

The president’s death tally has not been independently verified – it is, however, dwarfed in number by Washington’s best guesses, which has put it close to 70,000 killed. Other Pentagon officials have said as high as 120,000.

They have also said around 120,000 Russian soldiers had died during the conflict, a lower number than the 180,000 killed said by Zelensky at the conference.

‘I don’t know how many of their soldiers are missing, but I know that there are up to 500,000 [Russian soldiers] who are injured or missing,’ the president added.

The last time Ukraine shared its military losses was at the end of 2022 when presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died at the hands of Russia since the war started on February 24, 2022.

Casualties are a sensitive subject in a country trying to boost military recruits after its counter-offensive last year failed to break through Russian lines.

Russia has not shared how many of its soldiers have died. Both countries have said on several occasions that their opponents’ losses are substantial.

Ukrainian flags wave over thousands of graves of soldiers in Kharkiv (Picture: Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukrainian soldiers kneeling down yesterday before the coffin of Andriy Katanenko, 39, who was killed near Avdiivka (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainians taking part in a ceremony in Lviv honouring the memory of fallen soldiers on the second anniversary of the war (Picture: Olena Znak/Anadolu via Getty Images)

But Kyiv says it’s unable to put an accurate figure on the losses as it doesn’t have access to that information.

What it does have figures on, however, is Russia’s attacks on its health care system, which inevitably affects huge numbers of civilians.

In scenes similar to those witnessed in the war in Gaza, there have been at least 1,300 assaults on medical facilities and ambulances – an average of two a day – since the conflict started.

Data shows 699 attacks damaged or destroyed hospitals and clinics; 75 affected children’s hospitals and 54 affected women’s health facilities

Meanwhile, 198 health workers were killed and 137 more were injured.

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