The kyiv World
Kyiv
Updated Sunday, February 25, 2024-17:16
President
Volodymyr Zelensky
said this Sunday that
31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died
during these two years of Russian invasion.
This is the first official figure for military losses in many months.
The Ukrainian leader told reporters at a news conference that
he could not reveal
figures on the
number of wounded
, saying that would help Russian military planning.
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LIVE |
Zelensky's press conference
"31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000... (Russian President Vladimir) Putin goes there... However, this is a great loss for us," said the Ukrainian president.
Ukraine had not put a figure on its military losses since late 2022, when presidential aide
Mikhailo Podolyak
said
13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed
since the Feb. 24 invasion.
Russia does not reveal military losses, which it considers secret.
invasion anniversary
On Saturday, the anniversary of the invasion, Zelensky was accompanied by the president of the European Commission,
Ursula von der Leyen
, the Belgian prime minister,
Alexander de Croo
, whose country holds the temporary presidency of the EU Council, the Italian
Giorgia Meloni
, who holds the presidency of the G7, and also the Canadian
Justin Trudeau
, as a symbol of transatlantic support.
"My visit to Kiev comes on the
second anniversary of the Russian war of aggression
,
and I come to honor the extraordinary resilience of the brave Ukrainian people. We have recently made important announcements about financial support for Ukraine, but it is also crucial to express our moral support to them." Von der Leyen told a group of Brussels correspondents, including this newspaper, who accompanied her.