55,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed as ceasefire talks continue: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said an estimated 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, adding that a large number of service members remain missing.

Speaking in a prerecorded interview with France 2 television broadcast on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the figure included both professional soldiers and conscripts. “In Ukraine, officially the number of soldiers killed on the battlefield is 55,000,” he said, according to a French translation of his remarks.

The Ukrainian leader did not provide a precise figure for those listed as missing, saying only that their number was significant.

AJ Jazeera reported that Zelenskyy’s comments came ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion later this month and as renewed ceasefire negotiations are under way in Abu Dhabi, aimed at ending the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

The latest estimate marks an increase from figures Zelenskyy cited last year. In an interview with US broadcaster NBC in February 2025, he said more than 46,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed in combat.

Independent assessments suggest the overall toll is far higher when wounded soldiers are included. In mid-2025, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that nearly 400,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed or wounded since the war began.

Civilian casualties have also continued to rise. Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that Russian attacks killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 others in 2025, nearly a third more than in the previous year.

Russia is also believed to have suffered heavy losses. Ukraine’s military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, said in January that almost 420,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded in 2025 alone. British defence intelligence estimated in October 2025 that total Russian military casualties since the start of the war had reached about 1.1 million.

Both Kyiv and Moscow rarely disclose their own casualty figures, though each side frequently reports losses inflicted on the other. Analysts say both countries are likely to understate their own deaths while exaggerating enemy losses.

As fighting continues, diplomatic efforts to halt the war remain fraught. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia would continue military operations until Ukraine made decisions that could end the conflict.

Ukrainian and Russian officials concluded what Kyiv described as a “productive” first day of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, with Washington pressing both sides to find a compromise. However, major differences remain.

The most contentious issues include Russia’s demand that Ukraine relinquish territory it still controls, including parts of the Donbas region, and the future of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.

Ukraine has said any settlement should freeze the conflict along current front lines and has rejected calls for a unilateral withdrawal from territory it continues to hold. Russian forces currently occupy around 20 per cent of Ukraine, including Crimea and large parts of eastern Ukraine.