Zelenskyy says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed since Russia invaded 2 years ago
Reuters | Posted: February 25, 2024 5:40 PM | Last Updated: February 26
Ukraine's defence minister says delays in promised Western military aid costing lives
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion two years ago, giving the first official figure for more than a year.
Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country's military planning.
"Thirty thousand Ukrainian troops have been killed in this war," he said.
"Not 300,000, not 150,000 … Putin is lying there … But nevertheless, this is a big loss for us."
Ukraine has not put a number to its military losses since the end of 2022, when presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the invasion on Feb. 24.
Zelenskyy told reporters that 180,000 Russians had been killed in the fighting. Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said on Saturday that about 75,000 Russian men died in 2022 and 2023 fighting in the war.
Russia does not disclose military losses, which it regards as secret. Both sides regularly describe the other's military losses as vast.
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Zelenskyy also said he was certain that the U.S. Congress would approve a major new batch of military and financial assistance and that Ukraine needed that decision to be made within a month.
"There is hope regarding Congress, and I am sure that it will be positive ... They know that we need support within a month," the Ukrainian leader told reporters.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's defence minister said on Sunday that half of promised Western military support to Ukraine fails to arrive on time, complicating matters for military planners and ultimately costing soldiers' lives.
Rustan Umerov said each delayed aid shipment meant Ukrainian troop losses, and underscored Russia's superior military might.
Commemorations to mark the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Saturday brought expressions of continued support, new bilateral security agreements and fresh aid commitments from Ukraine's Western allies.
But Umerov said they still needed to deliver on their commitments if Ukraine is to have any chance of holding out against Russia.
"We look to the enemy: their economy is almost two trillion dollars, they use up to 15 per cent official and non-official budget [funds] for the war, which constitutes over $100 billion US annually. So basically whenever a commitment doesn't come on time, we lose people, we lose territory," he said.
Ukraine has suffered setbacks on the battlefield, having lost the strategic eastern city of Avdiivka following intense battles this month, and as military aid for Kyiv hangs in the balance in the U.S. Congress.
Russia claimed the capture of the war-torn city on Feb. 17.
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