As many as 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers may have been killed in action since Russia invaded the nation nine months ago, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, one of the Ukrainian President’s advisers, according to Al-Jazeera.
Since the head of the armed forces reported nearly 9,000 deaths in late August, the adviser’s disclosure is said to be the first update on the number of fighters killed.
Ukraine’s Channel 24 on Thursday quoted Podolyak as saying, “We have official figures from the general staff, we have official figures from the top command, and they amount to (between) 10,000 and 12,500 to 13,000 killed”.
According to the official, there are more wounded soldiers than killed soldiers.
These figures as revealed by Mykhailo Podolyak have not yet been confirmed by the Ukrainian armed forces.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have also been killed in the war, while millions have fled to neighboring countries as the country now faces a winter without heat, power and water after Moscow struck on its power stations, as well as energy infrastructure.
United States President, Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who was in Washington, DC, promised to sustain their military aid for Ukraine.