Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the war with Russia two years ago, giving the figure for the military casualties for the first time as he calls for more Western weapons.
Zelensky’s figures, however, contradict data compiled by the West as US officials suggesting that 70,000 soldiers killed and 120,000 wounded in the war..
The Ukrainian president declined to say how many Ukrainian soldiers had been wounded, claiming that such details might help Russia.
He was speaking in Kiev a day after the two-year anniversary of the war with Russia.
Zelensky admitted that his country has suffered military setbacks recently and that Russians “have a great superiority,” but said he believed Ukraine would win.
He made the remarks as he expressed his hope that the US Congress would soon pass the $61bn package of aid to Kiev that House Republicans have been blocking for four months.
“I’m sure there will be a positive decision,” Zelensky said, noting that nearly all of the cash was being spent inside the US with arms producers.
“We count on Congress’s support,” he stressed.
Zelensky described 2024 as “a turning point” and said the results of this year’s US presidential election would be a key factor. If Donald Trump wins the November election, he is expected to pull the plug on aid to Ukraine.
“This year will define the format of the ending of the war,” Zelensky said.
Also on Sunday, Zelensky said he had asked France’s President Emmanuel Macron to provide Ukraine with Mirage fighter jets.
That comes as Macron will host European leaders for a conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Kiev on Monday.
Russia launched the military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Western countries have responded to the Russian military operation by backing Ukraine with cash and heavy weaponry while imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russian officials and entities.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that such a flow of weapons to Kiev will only prolong the conflict.
