Ukrainian war dead reaches 43,000, Zelensky says in rare update

Kyiv, December 8 — Some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a rare admission of the extent of the nation's casualties.

In a post on social media, the Ukrainian president said 370,000 others had been injured, though this figure included soldiers who had been hurt more than once.

He also claimed that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.

The BBC has not been able to verify either side's figures.

While both Kyiv and Moscow have regularly published estimates of the other side's losses, they have been reluctant to detail their own.

The new figure marks a significant increase in Ukrainian deaths since the start of the year.

The last time Zelensky gave an update on Ukraine's casualties was in February, when he put deaths at 31,000.

The Ukrainian president is thought to have been compelled to make the admission after incoming US President-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media that Ukraine had "ridiculously lost" 400,000 soldiers, while close to 600,000 Russians had been killed or wounded. Trump did not state where these figures were from.

The incoming president, who has long made clear he wants to bring an end to the war, said too many lives had been "needlessly wasted".

Zelensky's estimates of Russian losses are similar to those provided by senior Western officials, who estimate Russia has suffered around 800,000 casualties, both killed and injured.

The UK's defence ministry says Russia suffered 45,680 casualties in November alone - more than during any month since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

According to the latest UK Defence Intelligence estimates, an average of 1,523 Russian soldiers are being killed and wounded every day.

On 28 November, it says, Russia lost more than 2,000 men in a single day, the first time this has happened.

Moscow disputes those figures. In a statement, the Kremlin claimed that Ukrainian losses were "many times higher" than Russian ones.

Outside of Russia, the consensus is that Russian casualty figures are far higher than Ukraine's due to their "meat grinder" tactics.

Recent developments in the war have only added to the number of dead.

Russian forces continue to make incremental advances along the eastern front line, capturing and retaking about 2,350 sq km of territory (907 sq miles) in eastern Ukraine and in Russia's western Kursk region since the start of the year.

Ukrainian forces maintain control over a small amount of Russian territory which was captured during a surprise offensive into Russia in August.

The Russian defence ministry says more than 38,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk alone - a number that cannot be verified.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Eight years later, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has occupied territory in the country's south and east.

Zelensky mentioned Ukraine's war dead in a broader post about the prospects for an eventual end to the war.

It follows talks in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump, who has sought to capitalise on views held by around a quarter of Americans that the US is providing too much support to Ukraine.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine "in a day" - but has yet to specify how he intends to do so.

In his post, Zelensky stressed that any peace deal had to be backed by effective international guarantees for his country's security.

He said he told Macron and Trump that Kyiv needs an "enduring peace" which Moscow would not "destroy in a few years".

Responding to Trump's call for an immediate ceasefire, the Kremlin said it was open to negotiations, but the conditions for a cessation of hostilities had been set by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

His demands included Ukraine giving up more of its territory and abandoning ambitions to join Nato, which Kyiv has rejected.