Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian troops killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky/File Photo: AP

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said as many as 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed during Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian President said he would not give the number of wounded as that would help Russian military planning, according to BBC.

Typically, Ukrainian officials do not make casualty figures public, and other estimates are much higher, it said.

According to the BBC report, it comes after the defence minister said half of all Western aid for Ukraine has been delayed, costing lives and territory.

Zelensky said that he was providing an updated death toll in response to the inflated figures that Russia has quoted.

“31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in this war. Not 300,000 or 150,000, or whatever Putin and his lying circle are saying. But each of these losses is a great loss for us,” he added.

Zelensky also said tens of thousands of civilians had died in the areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia but the true number was unknown.

“I don’t know how many of them died, how many were killed, how many were murdered, tortured, how many were deported.”

It is rare for Ukraine to provide a military death toll, and other estimates suggest a much higher number.

(Inputs from BBC)