On the second anniversary of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukrainian ** Zelensky publicly disclosed the ** data of the Ukrainian army for the first time at a press conference in Kyiv on February 25 local time. This figure is much lower than the previous estimates of the West, which surprised many. "Our loss is not 300,000 or 150,000, but 3," he said with deep sorrow10 thousand. "These figures represent more than just statistics, behind them are the lives, ages, families and dreams of Ukrainian soldiers. They went to war for different reasons: some to defend their homeland, some to fight for freedom, and some simply to survive.
Zelensky's eyes were full of grief and anger, and his words revealed an abhorrence of war and a yearning for peace. "Putin is lying, but for us, every soldier killed is an irreparable loss. In his speech, he also mentioned the situation of the Russian army, claiming that the death toll of the Russian army reached 180,000, and the total number of people including the wounded was as high as 500,000. These figures are staggering and highlight the brutality of the war.
CNN reported that the ** could not independently verify the figures. The Kyiv Independent noted that Zelensky did not clarify whether the figures refer to the nearly decade-long conflict in Ukraine or to the death toll that only counts for the last two years. This is the official Ukrainian figure for the number of soldiers killed, and the actual number could be higher. Zelenskyy also said that he would not reveal how many Ukrainians were injured, because then Russia would know how many left the battlefield.
The CNN report also mentioned that Zelensky's act of announcing the death toll of the Ukrainian army is very rare, because during the conflict, the Ukrainian side has been reluctant to publicly acknowledge the ** situation of the soldiers. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov said in June 2022 that tens of thousands of Ukrainians had died since February 2022. Two months later, Zaluzhny, then commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. And according to US ** estimates, about 70,000 soldiers of the Ukrainian army have died, and the number of wounded is almost twice that number.
Zelenskyy's remarks come at a time when Ukraine is facing challenges on the battlefield and seeking more aid from Western countries. However, a U.S. bill that includes $60 billion in foreign military aid to Ukraine has been shelved in the House of Representatives due to obstruction by Republican lawmakers. In an interview with CNN, Zelensky appealed to US congressmen that "millions" could be killed in the conflict if the request for assistance from Biden in the United States is not approved.
Zelensky said that the death toll of the Russian army was 5 times that of Ukraine