Zelensky aide reveals up to 13,000 war dead
Up to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion, a senior official has said.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said between 10,000 and 13,000 troops had died.
It is rare for Ukraine to give figures for casualties, and Podolyak’s comments have not been confirmed by the country’s military.
In June he said between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers were dying daily.
Last month, the most senior US general, Mark Milley, said around 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or injured since the start of the war.
In a video address on Wednesday, EU Commission head Ursula Von der Leyen said that 100,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed. However a spokesperson for the EU Commission later clarified that this was a mistake, and the figure referred to those both killed and injured.
Speaking to a Ukrainian TV outlet, Podolyak said Kyiv was “openly talking about the number of the killed”.
“We have official evaluations by the General Staff, official evaluations by the commander-in-chief [Zelensky], and they range from 10,000 to 12,500-13,000 killed,” he said.
He added that the number of civilians killed could be “significant”.
Agencies