Since beginning of invasion, Ukraine has lost 43 thousand soldiers - Zelenskyy
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43 thousand soldiers.
This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram, Censor.NET reports.
He recalled that on December 7, 2024, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump, who will soon take office as President of the United States, at the Elysee Palace.
"We discussed important things on the battlefield in Ukraine and in the global situation, from our front to North Korea.
I said that we need a just and strong peace that the Russians will not destroy in a few years, as they have already done. This is clear not only for our country and the region. We see how Russia is now trying to conquer Georgia after several wars against that country. Russia still does not let go of Moldova. Now the Russians are fleeing Syria, but this does not mean that they will not try to sow death there again. There is a Russian military presence even in Africa, and it is for the purpose of destabilization," he said.
"Therefore, when we talk about effective peace with Russia, we must first of all talk about effective guarantees of peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land. And it is Russia that most of all wants to disrupt the possibility of peace. Updated data on Russian losses exceed 750 thousand of their people. These are 198 thousand Russians killed and more than 550 thousand wounded," Zelenskyy added.
"Our people are defending their home at the cost of their lives, and every life of our soldiers and our civilians is valuable to us.
According to Zelenskyy, since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers who died on the battlefield. 370 thousand cases of assistance to the wounded, and this is taking into account that in our army about 50 percent of the wounded return to the ranks, and all injuries, including light and repeated ones, are recorded.
"One of the key differences between the Russian army and the Ukrainian Defense Forces is the level of development of frontline medicine, which is much higher in our army. We in Ukraine are grateful for this to everyone who helps develop medicine in our army and rescues our wounded and provides rehabilitation.
Since September of this year, Russia has been losing people on the battlefield in a ratio of 5 or even 6 to 1. This is how they want to seize more land before the world's pressure on them becomes unbearable.
In addition, we do not forget about our people in Russian captivity - these are thousands of people, military and civilians, and some of them have been in captivity since 2014 when the occupation began. Since February 24, 2022, we have already managed to return 3935 of our people from Russia: 3767 soldiers and 168 civilians. We must return everyone, and this is still a significant work. And we must establish the truth about all our missing people," Zelenskyy said.
He also urged not to forget about the children deported by Russia from Ukrainian land: the Russians themselves say that there are hundreds of thousands of such stolen children, and Russia is scattering them across its territory. Returning them is the most difficult thing. At least several million people remain in the occupied territory of Ukraine.
"This is what this war is. It cannot be ended with a piece of paper and a few signatures. A ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any time, as Putin has already done. To ensure that there will be no more losses of Ukrainians, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to the occupation," the head of state said.
As reported, Trump said earlier that Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have lost 400,000 soldiers and many more civilians.
