2024-02-25 21:31:00
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskythis Sunday revealed that 31,000 soldiers died in combat in the first two years of war with Russia, a very low figure compared to that managed by various international organizations.
“Not 300,000, not 150,000 as Putin and his circle of liars say,” he declared. Furthermore, he pointed out that Ukraine’s victory over Russia “depends” on Western support and said he is “confident” that the United States will approve the currently blocked military aid package.
It should be noted that the United States estimates leaked last year raised to 70,000 the number of dead Ukrainian soldiersmore than double the figure provided by Zelensky.
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“31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in this war“said the Ukrainian president in a press conference in kyiv, celebrated this Sunday on the occasion of the second anniversary of the invasion, thus offering the first official balance of Ukraine’s military losses.
There he explained that The number does not include injured or missing soldiers and rejected estimates that put the number of deaths at 300,000. In his speech, the Ukrainian president did not want to give the number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers “in order not to help Russia find out the number of Ukrainians” who have gone to the front.
Waiting for Western weapons
Zelensky, in the same press conference, stated that his country’s victory over Russia “depends” on the support of the West. “May Ukraine lose, may it be very difficult for us and Whether there are a large number of casualties depends on you, from our partners, from the Western world,” he stressed. “If we are strong, with weapons, we will not lose this war,” he said.
In that sense, Zelensky was optimistic regarding the approval of a new US aid package of 60 billion dollarsat the moment blocked in Congress in Washington by the representatives republicans. “I am sure that the vote in the US Congress will be positive,” she added.
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This blockade comes amid growing fears that the american elections November and Donald Trump’s stance on the intervention abroad can make or break Ukraine.
But Zelensky also took aim at the EU, claiming that Ukraine has received only 30 percent of the million artillery shells promised by Brussels.
He Minister of Defense of the former Soviet republic regretted for his part that half of the western weapons fiancees were delivered late. “A promise does not constitute a delivery,” criticized Rustem Umerov, adding that “50% of commitments are not met on time“.
The delays, according to Umerov, place Ukraine in a greatest disadvantage in the war once morest Russia since it implies “human and territorial losses.”
Impossible negotiation
Zelensky also offered his vision on eventual peace talks with Moscow that would enable a negotiated exit from the war, a route that was explored without success more than a year and a half ago in Istanbul. “Is it possible to talk to a deaf person? “Is it possible to talk to a person who kills his opponents?” Zelensky asked.
The Ukrainian leader insisted on his Peace Formulaa document that demands, among other things, the withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory, as only possible negotiation framework.
“We will offer him a way (Putin) to accept that he lost the war, and that it was a big mistake,” said Zelensky, who hopes to hold an international summit in Switzerland this spring so that the as many countries as possible give their support to his Peace Formula. Once the support of these countries was obtained, he explained that the document will be presented to Putin as was done with the grain agreement sponsored by Turkey and the United Nations.
Leaked information
The president of Ukraine also stated that the very Ukraine’s expected summer 2023 counteroffensive stalled by intelligence leaks. That is why he indicated that to avoid them in the future, his military leaders were developing several strategy plans for this year.
Likewise, Zelensky assured thatDelays in the delivery of weapons contributed to the failure of their counteroffensiveduring which the Ukrainian army exhausted its resources but failed to liberate the regions occupied by Russia.
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kyiv’s forces are currently facing an extremely difficult situation on the front and following four months of fierce fighting was forced to withdraw from the city of Avdiivkain the east of the country.
For their part, the Moscow soldiers put increasing pressure on the southern and eastern frontsalthough without making great progress. Although, the Ukrainian president predicted that the Russians will probably attempt another large-scale offensive in Ukraine as soon as in May.
UN Millionaire Facts
The United Nations (UN) stated that more than 14 million people in Ukraine have left their homes since the beginning of the invasion on February 24, 2022, of which almost 6.5 million live outside the country as refugees.
On the other hand, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), dependent on the UN, pointed out that some 4.5 million people returned homebut what 3.7 million remain internally displaced within Ukraine.
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The organization noted that those who returned home also face multiple challenges such as “insecurity, loss of livelihood or damaged homes and infrastructure,” said Soda Federico, director of the humanitarian response and recovery program. “We have to focus on the Economic recovery“, he defended.
During the first two years of conflict, the organization received $957 million in donations. “However, as the war enters a protracted phase, needs continue to grow and exceed available resources“added the IOM.
“The destruction is widespread. The loss of life and suffering continues,” IOM Director General Amy Pope said in a statement. In parallel, the head of human rights at the United Nations, Volker Turk, in a statement attacked the “horrible human cost” caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “which is regarding to enter its third year with no signs of finishing“.
The UN estimates that needs 4.2 billion dollars this 2024 to provide the necessary aid in Ukraine and among its refugees, but fears that this objective will not be achieved in the face of the Gaza war emergency that now captures the world’s attention.
No official figures so far
Las official civilian figures who died since the beginning of the Russian invasion, are inaccurate. The main reason is the impossibility of accessing the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
In June 2023, the Ukrainian authorities counted 10,368 civilian deaths. But “we believe that they are around 50,000“victims,” he stated at that time Oleg Gavrych, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff.
The United Nations, for its part, counted 10,000 civilian deaths, although it also believes that the toll is “considerably higher.”
Only in Mariupolthe large port city in the south of the country, the Russian siege left at least 25,000 deadaccording to Russian authorities, who refer to the time when Moscow troops managed to occupy the city, between February and May 2022.
Still No figures have been released on the victims in the other cities occupied by Russia.. On the Russian side of the border, however, a count by a local news portal counted at least 145 dead.
As for the soldiers, both on one side and the other, heThe General Staffs do not communicate regarding their military casualtiesso it is necessary to refer to third party estimates.
The Russian site Mediazona and the BBC Russian service indicated that They identified around 45,000 dead Russian soldiers since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
In August, the New York Times cited US officials, who on the ukrainian sidethey evaluated the military losses at 70,000 and the number of injured between 100,000 and 120,000.
On the Russian side, they recorded 120,000 dead and between 170,000 and 180,000 wounded.
On January 29, the British Defense Minister, James Heappey, considered in a parliamentary response that the Russian losses amounted to 350,000 dead and wounded.
In turn, the Ukrainian army estimated to have killed or wounded nearly 405,000 Russian soldiers in two years.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also stated in December that 383,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been wounded or killed since the start of the invasion.
“Just and lasting peace”
Also, the Pope Francisco He referred on Sunday to the “martyred Ukrainian people” and called for finding a diplomatic solution for a “just and lasting peace.”
Ukraine continues to be the target of daily Russian bombings. In the early hours of this Sunday, a attack left one injured in Kostiantynivkain the east, and damage to several buildings, according to police.
In Nikopol, in the south of the country, a Russian drone dropped explosives on a vehicle and killed a 57-year-old manaccording to the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergei Lyssak.
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