US newspaper says 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, Kiev denies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Getty).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed a Wall Street Journal report about casualties in the war with Russia.

Previously, an American newspaper cited secret sources as saying that about 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and about 400,000 others were wounded in more than 2 years of war with Russia.

Commenting on this information, Mr. Zelensky said: "80,000 troops? That's a lie. The actual number is much lower than what has been announced. Significantly lower," he declared, but did not specify the actual number.

In February, Mr Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in two years of fighting with Russia and did not release figures for wounded servicemen.

In April, the Washington Post cited Ukrainian sources as saying that the number of Kiev soldiers killed appeared to be higher and that Ukraine's move was aimed at maintaining fighting spirit to support recruitment efforts.

The Wall Street Journal's casualty figure of 480,000 is similar to Russia's estimate in April. At that time, Russia assessed that Kiev had lost about half a million troops, including the wounded.

It is unclear how many Russians have lost in terms of manpower. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the death toll was one in five and that Moscow had the upper hand. Mr Putin accused the West of being ready to fight to the “last Ukrainian” while using Kiev as a tool in a proxy war against Russia.

It is very difficult for a third party to verify statements from one side in the war about the other, as this could be a psychological warfare tactic, in a conflict that has lasted nearly 3 years and shows no signs of ending.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/bao-my-noi-80000-binh-si-ukraine-da-thiet-mang-kiev-phan-bac-20240922100241354.htm