The true death toll of Russian invasion unclear
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said 31,000 Ukrainian troops have died in two years of conflict – the first time Kyiv has put a figure on the death toll since Russia’s invasion two years ago.
He also claimed 180,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and tens of thousands more injured. There has been little clarity around the true death toll of the conflict in Ukraine, with both sides reticent to release information.
Fears have been raised over Ukraine’s ability to staff its military, with an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers fighting along the front line. Meanwhile, Russia, which has a population more than three times as large as that of Ukraine, is believed to have 470,000 troops on the ground – and a much larger pool of potential recruits than Ukraine.
Ukraine is considering a controversial new bill to expand the draft plans to lower the age at which men can be conscripted into the armed forces from 27 to 25.
Mr Zelensky’s latest death toll figures are far lower than previous estimates of Ukrainian military deaths. In August, US estimates, leaked to the New York Times, put the number at 70,000 dead and as many as 120,000 injured.
Mr Zelensky said he had published the figures in response to what he said were inflated claims of the death toll alleged by Russia.
He said: "[A total of] 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in this war. Not 300,000 or 150,000, or whatever put in and his lying circle are saying. But each of these losses is a great loss for us."
Mr Zelensky also said “tens of thousands of civilians” had been killed in occupied areas of the country, but that no exact figures would be available until the war was over.
Russia’s figures are also unclear. The most recent data from the country’s defence ministry, published in January last year, pointed to just over 6,000 deaths in the first year of war.
However, in February, the UK'S defence ministry estimated 350,000 Russian troops had been killed or injured. Russia has provided few official casualty figures.
Meanwhile, independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said on Saturday that about 75,000 Russian men died in 2022 and 2023 fighting in the war. A US intelligence report declassified in mid-december estimated 315,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in Ukraine. If accurate, the figure would represent 87 per cent of the roughly 360,000 troops Russia had before the war.
This came as Ukraine’s defence minister Rustan Umerov warned half of promised Western military support to Ukraine fails to arrive on time, complicating the task of military planners and ultimately costing the lives of soldiers.
Mr um erov said each delayed aid shipment meant Ukrainian troop losses and underscored Russia’s superior military might.
“We look to the enemy – their economy is almost two trillion dollars, they use up to 15 per cent [of ] budget [funds] for the war, over $150 b ill ion(£118bn) annually,” he said.