After the statements by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about Ukraine’s high war losses, Ukrainian Presidential Spokesman Serhij Nykyforow was irritated. President Selenskyj will publish the information when the time comes.
Ukraine reacted with irritation when the EU mentioned the unexpectedly high Ukrainian war losses. Presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov emphasized to Ukrainian public television on Wednesday that only the supreme commander of the armed forces, the defense minister or the president can publish reliable figures on the casualties.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make official data public “when the right moment” has come, as this is sensitive information. According to Nykyforow, Kyiv has already asked Brussels where EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen got her information.
A speech by der Leyens that had been published by the short message service Twitter and had since been deleted caused a stir. She spoke of over 100,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers. Just under three weeks ago, US General Mark Milley estimated the Ukrainian casualties at around 100,000 soldiers. Ukraine has been repelling a Russian invasion since February. Both sides rarely provide information about their own losses.
An army spokesman also did not want to give any specific information on Wednesday. “We cannot confirm this number and emphasize that the losses of the Ukrainian army are official information that is classified as confidential,” Bohdan Senyk told the Ukrajinska Pravda online portal. At the same time, he said that Kyiv would welcome it if the information provided by von der Leyen would help bring those responsible for the war in Russia to justice.
