Zelensky reveals the number of Ukrainian soldiers who have lost their lives since the start of the war

2024-02-25 17:37:42Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelensky at the UN

Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelensky says 31,000 soldiers have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion.

Zelensky said he would not give the number of wounded as it would help Russian military planning.

Typically, Ukrainian officials do not make public the numbers of service people killed in the war.

This comes after the Defense Minister said half of all Western aid to Ukraine has been delayed, costing lives and territory.

"At the moment, commitment does not constitute surrender," Rustam Umerov said in a televised address on Sunday.

Ukraine is currently experiencing a series of setbacks in its mission to push Russia away from its territory.

Umerov said the lack of supplies puts Ukraine at a further disadvantage "in the mathematics of war."

"We do everything possible and impossible, but without time supply this hurts us," he said.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned in November that plans to deliver a million artillery shells by March would not be met.

In January, the European Union (EU) said that just over half of them would arrive in Ukraine by the deadline and that the full amount promised would not be there until the end of 2024.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell blamed a lack of production capacity, but NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the allies had stepped up.

Ukrainian forces have often complained of shortfalls in their war with Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said one of the reasons why Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive did not begin early last year was a lack of weapons.

This counteroffensive largely failed — one of several obstacles Kiev faced after some early success in pushing back Russia after invading Russia in February 2022.

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