Kyiv Reports 43,000 Fatalities Among Soldiers in Ukraine-Russia Conflict
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that the country has lost 43,000 soldiers in the war with Russia, which began in 2022. This figure is significantly lower than an estimate provided by US President-elect Donald Trump, who said Ukraine had lost 400,000 soldiers.
The update comes after Trump posted on Truth Social that “Ukraine has lost, very sadly, 400,000 soldiers” during the conflict. It is unclear if Trump was referring only to those killed in action or also including wounded troops. Zelenskiy said there have been 370,000 cases of “medical assistance for the wounded” on the battlefield, with about half of those soldiers returning to service.
Trump also provided an estimate of casualties for Russian troops, stating that “close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead.” However, Russia’s defense ministry does not release casualty estimates. Zelenskiy called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to end the war, but stressed the need for guarantees from its allies, including the US, before considering a peace agreement.
In a separate statement, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine “cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures” and emphasized the importance of “effective guarantees of peace” before agreeing to a ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump’s statement, saying that Russia is open to talks, but only under certain conditions, including taking into account “the realities emerging ‘on the ground.'”