Its armed forces Ukrainian numbering approximately 10-13,000 dead soldiers since its inception Russian invasionsaid yesterday Thursday (1/12) Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, on a Ukrainian television station.
It was the first estimate of his losses Ukrainian army since late August, when the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had spoken of almost 9,000 dead in the ranks of the army.
“We have official information from the General Staff”Podoliak told the Kanal 24 network, “the dead amount to 10,000 to 13,000”he argued and added that there are more injured.
For his part, Oleksii Arestovich – an adviser to President Zelensky – argued in an interview on Wednesday that Russian casualties in the war are seven times greater than Ukrainian casualties.
Last month, the head of the US Armed Forces General Staff, General Mark Milley, estimated that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, adding that the losses on the Ukrainian side are similar.
Zelensky: Free 1,300 Ukrainian prisoners of war
More than 1,300 Ukrainian prisoners freed in prisoner-of-war swaps with Russia since the start of the war in February, the president announced on Thursday (1/12). Volodymyr Zelensky after another such exchange between Kiev and Moscow.
“We won’t stop until we get them all back. After today’s exchange, 1,319 heroes have already returned home”the Ukrainian president said on Telegram.
According to Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, “50 defenders of Ukraine were released” on Thursday (1/12), including “defenders of Mariupol and Azovstal,” the steelworks in this port city in southern Ukraine that has been relentlessly shelled in the spring by the Russian army before it fell into his hands.
Russia and Ukraine have held several prisoner-of-war exchanges since the Russian invasion began in February. But the two camps have repeatedly accused each other of abusing prisoners.
In a report published in mid-November, the UN reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war were “systematically” tortured by Russian forces and that witnesses also reported instances of ill-treatment on the Ukrainian side.
On October 20, Russia announced it was holding “more than 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners”a number that AFP could not verify and Kyiv did not comment.
Source: News Beast
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