Kiev. Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 31 thousand Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the attack by Russia. The Ukrainian president said that he would not give the number of injured as it would help the Russian military plan.
In general, Ukrainian authorities do not release casualty figures and other estimates are much higher. Zelensky’s comments came after the defense minister responded that half of all Western aid to Ukraine had been delayed. Zelensky said on Sunday that the updated death toll was provided in response to figures claimed by Russia.
“31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in this war. Not 300,000 or 150,000, or what Putin and his bunch of liars say. But each of these deaths is a great loss for us,” he said. Speaking about the extensive damage caused by the war, Zelensky said that thousands of civilians have died in the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine, but the actual number is unknown.
U.S. officials put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed last August at 70,000 and about 120,000 wounded. Zelensky claimed that 180,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and tens of thousands more wounded in the war so far.