Zelensky: "The number of Ukrainian soldiers who have died in the war is significantly less than 80,000."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an interview that since the full-scale invasion by Russia, fewer than 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war.

“Some recently, I believe it was in the American press, reported that 80,000 Ukrainians had died. But I want to tell you that it’s not true. It’s less. Much less, much,” Zelensky said in an interview with Kyodo News.

He declined to disclose the exact figure.

Previously, sources from the Wall Street Journal in Kyiv reported that Ukraine had lost 80,000 military personnel. According to their information, the number of injured servicemen reached 400,000.

At the same time, The Economist cited data from Western intelligence, suggesting that Ukraine may have lost between 60,000 to 100,000 soldiers killed, with around 400,000 fighters sustaining serious injuries.

According to the Ua Losses website, as of December 3, 65,289 Ukrainian soldiers' deaths have been confirmed. The average age at the time of death was 38.2 years. The actual loss figure could be significantly higher, as for every soldier killed, there are between 6 to 8 severely wounded.

The last official disclosure of losses by Kyiv was in February 2024. At that time, Zelensky reported that Ukraine had lost 31,000 soldiers killed. However, as the Washington Post noted, these figures might have been deliberately understated to “not interfere with the already challenging recruitment and mobilization campaign.”

In the Kyodo News interview, Zelensky particularly emphasized that he does not know how many Ukrainians have died in the territories occupied by Russia.

“During the occupation, there were civilians, military personnel, law enforcement, and so on. And how many of them have died, how many have been destroyed, how many are in captivity, etc.… I do not know here. So I only speak about the military losses that are on our territory, which we control,” said the President of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, according to Pentagon estimates, by November, Russia's total losses amounted to 615,000: 115,000 killed and 500,000 wounded.