KYIV - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has given a figure for the number of Ukrainian battlefield deaths in the war with Russia for the first time, acknowledging that 31,000 soldiers have been killed and saying 2024 will be decisive for the outcome of the conflict.
Speaking in Kyiv a day after the two-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the Ukrainian president said he believed his country would win despite recent military setbacks. He conceded western weapons were in short supply and were crucial at a time when his troops were spectacularly outgunned.
They were running low on ammunition and at one point late last year were firing one shell for every twelve unleashed by the Russians, he said. The ratio was now 1:7. “They have a great superiority,” he admitted.
He refused to say how many Ukrainian service personnel had been wounded, saying such details might help Moscow, but that western estimates of the number of Ukrainian dead were too high. US officials have suggested 70,000 soldiers killed and 120,000 wounded.
“It’s not 300,000 or 150,000. Every casualty means a lot to us,” Zelenskiy said. He put the number of Russian dead at 180,000 and said Russian casualties were 500,000 including the wounded. He described Putin and Russia as a “ring of inhumans”. The Kremlin had murdered the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, he added.
House Republicans in Washington have been blocking a $61bn (£48bn) package of military and economic assistance to Kyiv for four months. Zelenskiy said he was hopeful the US Congress would soon pass the aid package, which includes badly needed replacements of the air defence missiles used to protect Kyiv and other cities.
Zelenskiy described 2024 as “a turning point” and said the outcome of November’s US presidential election would be a key factor. If Donald Trump wins a second term in office, he is expected to pull the plug on aid to Kyiv.
EU countries have been trying to boost diplomatic and military support for Ukraine. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, will host European leaders for a conference on Monday. It will be a chance for participants to “reaffirm their determination” to defeat Russia’s aggressive war, the French presidency said.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, will attend, as will the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron. Zelenskiy will beam in by video. He said on Sunday that he had asked Macron to provide Ukraine with Mirage fighter jets.
