Kyiv reports heavy military losses while Moscow signals no retreat from battlefield demands.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that an estimated 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, highlighting the severe human cost of the ongoing war.
Speaking in a television interview aired on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the figure includes both professional troops and conscripts killed in combat. He added that a significant number of soldiers are officially listed as missing, though he did not provide an exact figure.
The remarks come as Ukrainian and Russian representatives take part in US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, aimed at exploring possible ways to end the conflict, which has become the largest war in Europe in decades.
Zelenskyy’s latest estimate marks an increase from figures he cited last year. In early 2025, he said more than 46,000 Ukrainian service members had died. Independent assessments suggest overall losses are far higher when wounded troops are included.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has estimated that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured since the fighting began.
Civilian casualties have also continued to mount. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that Russian attacks killed more than 2,500 civilians and injured over 12,000 others in 2025, a sharp rise compared with the previous year.
Russia has also suffered heavy losses, though exact numbers remain disputed. Ukrainian military officials have claimed that hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers were killed or wounded last year, while British defence intelligence has estimated total Russian casualties at more than one million since the war began.
Neither side regularly releases verified casualty figures, and analysts warn that losses are often underreported domestically while enemy casualties may be overstated.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has shown little sign of softening its position. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia would continue military operations until Ukraine makes what Moscow calls the necessary decisions to end the war.
The Abu Dhabi talks, described by Ukrainian officials as constructive in their early stages, face major hurdles. Russia continues to demand that Ukraine surrender territory it still controls, including parts of the eastern Donbas region, and accept Russian control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ukraine has rejected those conditions, insisting on preserving its territorial integrity and opposing any forced troop withdrawals. Russian forces currently occupy about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine.
