Ukrainian Presidential advisor Mikhail Podoliak has put the number of Ukrainian servicemen killed by the Russian invasion, unleashed on February 24 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at «between 10,000 and 13,000», after the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, put the figure at around 100,000.
«We have official estimates from the General Staff of the (Ukrainian) Army,» Podoliak told Channel 24 television. «They range from 10,000 to 12,500 or 13,000 dead. We are openly talking about the number of dead,» he said, in the absence of official figures on casualties from the war.
Thus, he stressed that «there are more casualties due to the wounded» and stressed that the figures given by Von der Leyen are erroneous. «It is obvious, that is why they removed the video and withdrew those figures», said Podoliak, who added that the number of civilian casualties is much higher than the 20,000 mentioned by the president of the European Commission, as reported by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.
For its part, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army has affirmed this Friday that more than 90,000 Russian soldiers have died since the beginning of the invasion, including 650 during the last day. In this regard, it has outlined in a message on its account on the social network Facebook that the total number of Russian soldiers «liquidated» amounts to «about 90,090».
In this regard, he said that since the beginning of the invasion, 2,916 tanks, 1,905 artillery systems, 210 anti-aircraft defense systems and 395 self-propelled and armored multiple rocket launchers have been destroyed, as well as 280 aircraft, 262 helicopters, 1,564 drones, 531 cruise missiles, 16 ships, 4,464 vehicles and fuel tanks and 163 pieces of special equipment.
«The Russian enemy has suffered the heaviest losses over the past day in the directions to Bajmut and Lyman. The data is being updated. Hit the occupier. Let’s win together. Our strength is in the truth,» the Ukrainian Army General Staff has concluded.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley claimed on Nov. 10 that Russia has suffered «well over 100,000» casualties, including military dead and wounded, as part of the invasion of Ukraine, before adding that the numbers among the Ukrainian ranks «are probably similar.» «We are talking about well over 100,000 Russian servicemen killed or wounded. The same probably on the Ukrainian side,» he said.
However, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski highlighted the same day in an interview with U.S. television network CNN that Moscow has lost «ten times» more servicemen than Kiev since the start of the invasion. In September, Russia acknowledged some 6,000 military deaths and put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war at 61,200.
