The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the battlefield as a result of the country's war with Russia is estimated at 55,000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told France 2 TV on Wednesday (February 4).
"In Ukraine, officially the number of soldiers killed on the battlefield - either professionals or those conscripted - is 55,000," said Zelenskiy, in a pre-recorded interview that was broadcast on Wednesday.
Zelenskiy, whose comments were translated into French, added that on top of that casualty figure was a "large number of people" considered officially missing.
Zelenskiy had previously cited a figure for Ukrainian war dead in an interview with the U.S. television network NBC in February 2025, saying that more than 46,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed on the battlefield.
He said in his nightly address on Wednesday (February 4) after the start of a new round of three-sided talks, that negotiations had to lead to real peace and not provide Russia with a new opportunity to continue the war. Ukraine's partners, he said, had to exert more pressure on Moscow. "It must be felt now, people in Ukraine must feel that the situation is genuinely moving toward peace and the end of the war, not toward Russia using everything to its advantage and continuing attacks," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy also said that Ukraine expected, after the start of these latest talks, that a new exchange of prisoners would take place soon.
Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a "productive" first day of the U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv's lead negotiator said on Wednesday, as fighting in Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two raged on. The two-day trilateral meetings come after Zelenskiy said Russia had exploited a U.S.-backed energy truce last week to stockpile munitions, attacking Ukraine with a record number of ballistic missiles on Tuesday.
Shortly after the talks began, Russian forces struck a crowded market in eastern Ukraine with cluster munitions, killing at least seven people and wounding 15, the Donetsk region's Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
