The Wall Street Journal's recent claims that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died during the full-scale war with Russia are "exaggerated," secretary of the parliamentary defense committee Roman Kostenko told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Sept. 18.
The U.S. outlet wrote on Sept. 17 that according to a "confidential Ukrainian estimate from earlier this year," Ukraine has suffered 80,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded.
Russian losses were estimated at 200,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, putting the overall casualties of the war to over 1 million.
"I think that these are exaggerated data. Definitely... Namely when talking about the recorded number of (Ukrainian soldiers) killed," Kostenko said.
Ukraine has largely avoided commenting on its losses, though President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that 31,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed.
"If we look at the past two years, we had roughly the same number – 19,000 each (year). And this is considering only those who were issued official death certificates," Kostenko said, adding that many are still considered missing.
The lawmaker suggested that 50,000 soldiers killed could be an approximate figure, though he admitted he does not have the most accurate data and that even his number could be an overestimation.
Regarding Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself despite the losses, Kostenko believes that the country still has enough men to mobilize and that everything depends on the ability to enlist more troops.
Ukraine has sought to replenish the ranks of its military as the war has been ongoing for two and half years. Kyiv adopted new legislation on mobilization in the spring, lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25 and imposing stricter penalties for dodging draft.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
