Tusk says Ukraine losing about 27,000 troops a month; Kyiv silent
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said publicly that Ukraine is losing roughly 27,000 military personnel killed and wounded per month, calling it the "saddest anti-record" and attributing the figure to unnamed "partners in Ukraine." Ukraine classifies casualty data and had not commented on the statement at the time of publication.
Key points
- Tusk said Ukraine is losing about 27,000 killed and wounded per month
- He attributed the figure to unnamed "partners in Ukraine"
- He called it the "saddest anti-record"
- Ukrainian law classifies casualty data until martial law ends; the Defence Ministry and General Staff do not publish figures
- Zelensky is the only Ukrainian official who publicly addresses casualty numbers; in July he cited 50,000 killed and 400,000 wounded
- Kyiv had not commented on Tusk's statement at publication
- At the end of August The Telegraph reported frontline losses exceed official figures and cited Kyrylo Budanov's call to mobilize at least 30,000 a month
Why it matters
The statement placed a sensitive wartime figure on a NATO leader's platform, despite Ukraine's official policy of keeping casualty numbers classified. It highlights a divergence between Ukraine's secrecy on military losses and how allied leaders discuss them publicly, and, if accurate, implies a scale of attrition with major implications for Ukraine's mobilization needs and Western military aid planning.
What happened
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said publicly that Ukraine is losing approximately 27,000 military personnel killed and wounded each month and described the figure as the "saddest anti-record." He attributed the number to unnamed "partners in Ukraine." Under Ukrainian law, information on killed, missing, and captured service members is classified until martial law is lifted, and the Ministry of Defence and General Staff do not publish such figures, citing security reasons. President Volodymyr Zelensky is the only Ukrainian official who publicly addresses casualty numbers; in a July interview with Fox News he gave a cumulative figure of 50,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, and added that many service members are considered missing. At the time of publication, Kyiv had not commented on Tusk's statement, and it was not clear which Ukrainian partners he was referring to or what their level of access to the data is. At the end of August, The Telegraph reported that frontline losses are higher than officially acknowledged and cited Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov's call to mobilize at least 30,000 people per month.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The Ukrainian-source reporting foregrounds the contradiction between Tusk's disclosure and Ukraine's official policy of keeping casualty figures classified, and questions which "partners" provided the data and what access they have. It highlights the absence of any official Kyiv response at publication and frames the episode as a sensitivity around secrecy rather than a substantive policy claim.
Where reporting differs
Tusk cited a monthly figure of approximately 27,000 killed and wounded attributed to unnamed "partners in Ukraine," while Ukrainian official channels treat such data as classified and the source of his number is not identified. Kyiv had not commented on his statement at publication.
Background
Under Ukrainian law, information on killed, missing, and captured service members is classified until martial law ends; the Ministry of Defence and General Staff do not publish such figures, citing security concerns, including preventing Russia from using the data to assess the effectiveness of its actions. Zelensky is the only Ukrainian official who publicly addresses casualty numbers, and in a July Fox News interview he gave a cumulative figure of 50,000 killed and 400,000 wounded, adding that many service members are considered missing. At the end of August, The Telegraph reported that frontline losses are higher than officially acknowledged and cited Kyrylo Budanov's call to mobilize at least 30,000 people per month.