A Ukrainian soldier of an artillery unit fires towards Russian positions
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Up to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the conflict with Russia, an aide to president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Mykhailo Podolyak gave the figure in a rare admission, although the comments have not been confirmed by the country's military. The 10,000-13,000 figure is far below that given by US general Mark Milley who put deaths at 100,000.
Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also cited the 100,000 figure in a speech on Wednesday, although it was later said that number included those injured.
Mr Podolyak had previously said between 100 and 200 Ukrainian soldiers were dying every day.
"We have official evaluations by the general gtaff, official evaluations by the commander-in-chief [Mr Zelensky], and they range from 10,000 to 12,500-13,000 killed," he told Ukrainian TV outlet Channel 24
He added that the number of civilians killed could be "significant" and while he didn’t give a figure, Mrs Von der Leyen put the number at 20,000.
Mr Podolyak said up to 100,000 Russian servicemen have been killed since the fighting broke out in February, with a similar number injured, although that figure is thought to be exaggerated. Other sources have put the number at around 20,000.
On the frontline, Ukraine officials are reportedly struggling to keep communication lines going amid Russian missile and drone strikes.
The engineers, who typically go unseen and unsung in peacetime, often work around the clock to maintain or restore phone service, sometimes braving minefields to do so. After Russian strikes took out the electricity that phone network towers usually run on, they revved up generators to keep the towers on.
"I know our guys — my colleagues — are very exhausted, but they're motivated by the fact that we are doing an important thing," Yuriy Dugnist, an engineer with Ukrainian telecommunications company Kyivstar said.
