MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2022) Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Thursday that the information about the casualties in the Ukrainian armed forces will remain confidential as it is a state secret.
"The death toll numbers are a state secret during martial law. It is based on military utility and the fact that the enemy should not know these figures and use them for their own plans," Maliar told a briefing.
On June 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that every day Ukraine loses up to 100 soldiers killed and 500 injured. On June 9, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov confirmed that Ukrainian forces had about 100 casualties daily. Since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died, according to the Ukrainian presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych. Western and Russian experts have estimated Ukrainian losses at about 70,000-200,000 dead.
On February 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Meanwhile, Russia has accused Ukrainian troops of using people as human shields and targeting civilians with weapons supplied by the West.
