Ukraine has lost 45,100 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan published Feb. 4.
Zelensky added that there have been a total of 390,000 cases of soldiers sustaining wounds on the battle, although the actual number of wounded soldiers is less given that some soldiers sustained multiple wounds during separate incidents.
In previous statements on the total casualty count, Zelensky said that approximately half of the soldiers wounded in action later return to the battlefield.
The comments from Zelensky comes as a rare admission from a Ukrainian official about the casualty count on the front line.
Zelensky previously revealed the total casualty count in December 2024, claiming that Ukraine had lost 43,000 solider, with "370,000 cases of medical assistance for the wounded."
Despite the estimates, Zelensky added that it was not clear as to how many thousands of men are currently held as prisoners of war compared to those missing in action.
"How many of those are missing (in action) and how many of those are prisoners (of war), I do not know the precise number but we are working on it," Zelensky added.
Comparing Ukraine's casualty count to that of Russia, Zelensky said the interview that approximately 350,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, with between 600,000 to 700,000 instances of Russian soldiers sustaining wounds on the battlefield.
According to Ukraine's General Staff estimates, Russia has lost a total of 842,930 troops since the start of the war, a number in line with various estimates from Western intelligence sources. The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.
According to the U.K.'s estimates, Russian losses are expected to surpass 1 million troops by May.
Moscow does not disclose its casualty figures, though a Defense Ministry official in recent months let slip that the department received 48,000 requests to identify missing soldiers.
In an attempt to mitigate casualties among Russian citizens, Moscow has also made an effort to recruit foreigners into their army. Russia has cooperated with North Korea, with Pyongyang reportedly dispatching 10,000-12,000 soldiers to assist Russia with its war against Ukraine.
After The New York Times reported on Jan. 30 that North Korean troops had been pulled from the front, a Special Operations Forces spokesperson confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's special forces had not faced Pyongyang's soldiers for three weeks.
Despite this, Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov denied reports on Feb. 4 that North Korean soldiers have not been seen on the front line for weeks, noting that the number of North Korean troops has decreased, and Ukraine is trying to establish why.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
