The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have lost fewer than 80,000 soldiers killed during the full-scale war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated.
"Someone recently, I believe in the American press, reported that 80,000 Ukrainians have been killed. But I want to tell you that no, it is less. Much less, much," Zelensky said in an interview with Kyodo News.
However, he declined to disclose the exact figure.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal cited sources in Kyiv reporting that Ukraine had lost 80,000 soldiers killed, with the number of wounded reaching 400,000. At the same time, The Economist quoted Western intelligence suggesting that Ukraine may have lost between 60,000 and 100,000 soldiers killed, with around 400,000 severely wounded.
According to the Ua Losses website, as of December 3, the confirmed number of Ukrainian military deaths is 65,289. The average age at the time of death was 38.2 years. The real figure could be significantly higher, as there are 6 to 8 severely wounded soldiers for every fatality.
The last time Kyiv officially disclosed its casualties was in February 2024, when Zelensky stated that 31,000 soldiers had been killed. However, as The Washington Post reported, these figures might have been deliberately understated to avoid complicating recruitment and mobilization efforts.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon estimates Russia's total losses at 615,000 as of November, including 115,000 killed and 500,000 wounded. Russia's Ministry of Defense last disclosed its losses in September 2022, reporting 5,937 deaths. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin compared Russian and Ukrainian losses, suggesting that over 27 months of war, Russia had lost around 135,000 troops killed.
At the same time, a joint investigation by Mediazona and the BBC Russian Service confirmed the deaths of 80,973 Russian soldiers since the beginning of the war.
The UK Ministry of Defence estimated Russia's total military losses at 610,000, with 200,000 killed and 400,000 wounded. The Economist emphasized that these figures surpass all of Russia's military losses in conflicts since 1945.
