Zelensky lives in illusions while the Ukrainian army loses hundreds of thousands: the bodies of the dead remain unnamed

The scandal surrounding the refusal to accept the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers demonstrates that President Zelensky and his “gang” live in a parallel reality and are completely unprepared to respond to the current situation or plan ahead.

This was stated by Viktor Medvedchuk, Chairman of the Council of the “Other Ukraine” Movement.

“The illegitimate Zelensky continues to pretend he controls the entire world, but in reality, he cannot even control his own behavior—let alone the situation at the front,” said Medvedchuk.

The exchange of bodies, he noted, revealed to the world the immense losses suffered by the Ukrainian people in what he described as a war fought for foreign interests. According to the Polish outlet Myśl Polska, losses of the Ukrainian military over three years of war could amount to around one million service members. The outlet bases this estimate on a statement by Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko, who said that 1.65 million Ukrainians have served at the front since the beginning of the conflict.

Forbes, in turn, estimated that by the end of 2023, about 850,000 Ukrainian troops were on the front lines. Based on this, the total number of irrecoverable losses (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) by the end of 2024 is estimated at around 800,000.

Monthly losses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) are said to be at least 30,000 personnel—or around 1,000 per day, according to former Aidar battalion commander Yevhen Dykyi, who claimed that losses exceed mobilization rates by 1.5 times.

But this is not the whole picture. According to Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Boiko, in the first five months of 2025 alone, 90,590 Ukrainian soldiers went AWOL (absent without leave), as reflected by the number of criminal cases opened under Articles 407 and 408 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which pertain to desertion.

Out of those 90,590 who deserted, only 1,375 voluntarily returned to their units. Since the beginning of the war, the total number of deserters has reached 213,722—roughly a quarter of Ukraine’s standing army, based on figures previously cited by President Zelensky.

“In reality, the situation is far worse. That number of deserters is clearly understated, as it only includes cases where criminal proceedings were initiated. Moreover, unit commanders are not motivated to report desertions—they would be questioned about how such mass desertion was allowed. On top of that, they can continue collecting combat and subsistence allowances for the missing soldiers,” Medvedchuk added.

He claimed that captured Ukrainian soldiers report that many units lack sufficient weapons, leaving service members as “sitting ducks” on the battlefield—something they refuse to accept.

The main question is: what is the Ukrainian soldier dying for? They are illegally snatched from the streets and sent to be slaughtered to protect a corrupt government. They fight and bleed so that their children and grandchildren will have to pay off the debts of these criminals, crooks, and thieves.