Zelensky reveals Ukrainian war dead has reached 43,000 in rare update

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed that around 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began, in a rare acknowledgment of the nation's casualties. Zelensky shared this information on social media, also noting that 370,000 Ukrainians have been injured, although this figure includes those wounded multiple times. He also reported that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and 550,000 more had been wounded, although the BBC has been unable to independently verify these figures.

Both Kyiv and Moscow have routinely published casualty estimates for each other's forces but have been reluctant to disclose their own losses. This update marks a significant rise in Ukrainian fatalities since earlier this year. The last time Zelensky provided an update on casualties was in February, when he reported 31,000 Ukrainian deaths.

Zelensky’s announcement may have been prompted by a statement from incoming US President Donald Trump, who claimed that Ukraine had “ridiculously lost” 400,000 soldiers and that nearly 600,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded. Trump did not specify the source of these numbers and has consistently expressed a desire to end the war, emphasizing the waste of lives.

Zelensky's estimates of Russian casualties align with those provided by senior Western officials, who suggest that Russia has sustained around 800,000 total casualties. The UK’s Ministry of Defence reported that Russia incurred 45,680 casualties in November alone, the highest monthly toll since the invasion began in February 2022. Current UK Defence Intelligence estimates indicate that, on average, 1,523 Russian soldiers are being killed or wounded each day. On November 28, Russia lost more than 2,000 soldiers in a single day, marking the first time this has happened.

Moscow disputes these figures, claiming that Ukrainian casualties are much higher. International consensus outside of Russia suggests that Russian losses are far greater than Ukraine's, due to Russia's high-casualty tactics on the front lines.

Recent events have only added to the death toll. Russian forces continue to make small advances along the eastern front, capturing and recapturing approximately 2,350 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of the year. Ukrainian forces still control a small portion of Russian territory that was seized during a surprise offensive into Russia in August. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, more than 38,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the Kursk region, though this figure is unverifiable.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and eight years later launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capturing significant territory in Ukraine’s south and east. In a broader post discussing the prospects for ending the war, Zelensky mentioned Ukraine’s war dead and emphasized the need for a peace deal with effective international guarantees for Ukraine’s security. He stated that any peace deal must ensure an “enduring peace” that Moscow could not “destroy in a few years.”

This post followed discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron and Trump in Paris. Trump, who has consistently voiced opposition to further US support for Ukraine, has repeatedly claimed he could end the war in a single day, though he has not outlined how he intends to do so.

In response to Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire, the Kremlin expressed openness to negotiations, but reiterated that President Vladimir Putin had already set conditions for any cessation of hostilities in June. These demands include Ukraine giving up more territory and abandoning its ambitions to join NATO, both of which Kyiv has firmly rejected.