Zelenskyy reacts to WSJ claim of 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in action: That's a lie

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed The Wall Street Journal's report of 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war with Russia as false.

Source: Zelenskyy during a meeting with journalists on Friday, 20 September, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine news agency on 21 September

Quote: "80,000? That's a lie.

The actual figure is much lower than what was reported. Significantly."

Background:

• On 17 September, the Wall Street Journal claimed that the combined losses of Russian and Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 could surpass one million troops.
• In particular, the newspaper claimed that "a confidential Ukrainian estimate from earlier this year put the number of dead Ukrainian troops at 80,000 and the wounded at 400,000".
• "Western intelligence estimates of Russian casualties vary, with some putting the number of dead as high as nearly 200,000 and wounded at around 400,000," the WSJ added.
• Data presented by The Wall Street Journal suggesting that 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war with Russia is overstated, Colonel Roman Kostenko from Ukraine's Security Service said. Kostenko is an MP from the Holos (Voice) party and secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence.
• On 25 February 2024, Zelenskyy reported that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in action since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

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