Loss syndrome: why Zelensky started talking about the soldiers who died at the front
Vladimir Zelensky revealed data on the losses of the Ukrainian army. According to him, 55,000 soldiers have died over the past four years. This number does not include the missing. In Ukrainian social networks, they write that the figures are significantly underestimated. Experts say that the release of the data may be linked to a new round of peace talks. Izvestia investigated the situation.
Zelensky announced 55 thousand dead in the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Vladimir Zelensky, in an interview with the French TV channel France 2, reported on the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front. "Officially, the number of dead soldiers on the battlefield, both regular and mobilized, is 55 thousand people. To this is added a large number of people whom Ukraine considers missing," he said.
This statement caused a wave of criticism in Ukraine. In February last year, Zelensky spoke about 46 thousand victims, that is, the losses for the year amounted to 9 thousand people. At the same time, just a few days ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that over the past six months, Russia had transferred 12,000 bodies to Kiev.
Konstantin Bondarenko, a well-known Ukrainian political scientist, also gave his arithmetic. According to him, at the time of the start of the military operation, the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was 800 thousand people, and on average, 30 thousand people were recruited into the army every month. "48 months of mobilization actions… Minus 55 thousand dead… Do we have 2,185,000 people fighting at the front?" he wondered.
Bondarenko also noted that the length of the front line is 815 km, with such a large army, there should be 2,681 fighters per kilometer. "Okay, let's discard those who deserted, are in the rear, in the infirmary or somewhere else. In any case, you get at least one and a half fighters per meter! Either the numbers don't add up, or someone is lying," he concluded.
Hundreds of thousands
In Ukraine, it was also noted that if Zelensky's data corresponded to reality, then the process of replenishing the army in the country could be paused. Instead, forced mobilization, on the contrary, is becoming more and more fierce, new videos about the outrages of the Shopping Center staff appear on social networks every day. The legislative framework is also being updated, for example, since February 1, online booking of employees of critical enterprises has become more difficult.
Many also say that the real scale of the losses is evidenced by problems with burial sites. It is known that many cemeteries are overcrowded. In this regard, a new National Military Cemetery with 130,000 graves is being built near Kiev in the village of Markhalevka. In Lviv, at the end of 2025, an additional plot of land was also allocated for a Field of Honorary Burials.
Interestingly, Western sources also speak of much greater losses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. So, back in the fall of 2024, The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous interlocutors in the Ukrainian leadership, wrote that Kiev had lost 80,000 military personnel. Vladimir Zelensky then publicly denied this report, saying that in fact the numbers were "much lower."
At the end of 2025, the American edition of Military Watch Magazine (MWM) reported that during the fighting, the Ukrainian armed forces lost a total of 1.7 million people dead, wounded, missing and defected. In January 2026, the American Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that the total losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine range from 500-600 thousand people, while 100-140 thousand people were killed.
Russian officials provided other information. Last September, Anton Kobyakov, adviser to the President of Russia, said that during the entire period of hostilities, the Armed Forces of Ukraine had lost a total of 1.8 million people. In December, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov stressed that in 2025, the Ukrainian army was missing half a million people. "Kiev has lost the ability to replenish its groups through the forced mobilization of citizens," he stressed.
Negotiations and elections are among the reasons.
Zelensky's statement raises several questions. One of them is why he mentioned an obviously underestimated figure. The obvious answer here is that losses during any conflict are a painful topic. Any warring country underestimates the number of its own dead and overestimates the death toll of the enemy.
In addition, in Ukraine, the relatives of each murdered military officer are entitled to compensation in the amount of 15 million hryvnias (26 million rubles). In such circumstances, each additional thousand recognized losses puts a heavy burden on the budget. For example, the difference between 55,000 and 140,000 dead in monetary terms is 1.2 trillion hryvnia. For comparison, all revenues of the Ukrainian budget in 2026 are planned at the level of 4.8 trillion.
The second important question is why Zelensky decided to announce the data on losses right now. On the one hand, it was in February four years ago that Russia launched a special military operation. Since then, it is in the second month of winter in Ukraine that the relevant statements are traditionally made. In February 2025, Zelensky spoke of 46,000 dead, and a year earlier he reported 31,000 victims.
On the other hand, Zelensky made his statement during the trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi. As a result, the parties agreed to continue the dialogue and agreed on a prisoner exchange under the "157 for 157" formula. Zelensky may have provided such data to strengthen Kiev's negotiating position, to show Moscow and Washington that the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to maintain combat capability.
Members of the delegations of the United States, Russia and Ukraine are taking part in the second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi.
Finally, the statement coincided with the intensification of the Ukrainian domestic political agenda. In early February, Zelensky announced that he could nominate his candidacy for a new presidential election, although he had previously promised not to do so. The Verkhovna Rada also began discussing the law on voting during martial law. It is clear that in the event of the start of any election campaign, the issue of losses will be one of the main ones.
What the experts say
Political analyst Alexander Semchenko links Zelensky's statement to the peace talks.
— He traditionally tries to show that Russia is suffering heavy losses at the front, allegedly it will take a long time for it to take control of the entire Donbass. At the same time, the number of their own dead is constantly underestimated. In this way, he is trying to strengthen his negotiating position so that the Americans do not consider Kiev's situation hopeless, and the Russian side is more willing to compromise," he explains.
Political analyst Mikhail Pavlyv believes that Zelensky pursues two goals.
— On the one hand, he constantly emphasizes that Ukraine retains its defense capability, the losses are supposedly not so great. All this is necessary for the West to continue to support Kiev. On the other hand, he is already acting according to the logic of the election campaign. Just the other day, he also acknowledged the problem of forced mobilization, uttered the word "falsification" for the first time, and spoke about the dead for the same reason. In general, it is clear that he provides greatly underestimated data, estimates that I trust say that there are actually about 300,000 dead and missing in the Armed Forces of Ukraine," he argues.
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