Kyiv reveals total Ukraine casualties in Putin’s war for first time

“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers who died on the battlefield," plus 370,000 who have been wounded, Zelenskyy said in his post. "And this is taking into account that in our army approximately 50 percent of the wounded return to service, and all injuries are recorded, including minor and repeated ones,” he said.

“And let’s not forget we managed to return 3,767 warriors from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy added.

The Ukrainian figures compare with 600,000 dead and wounded reported for the Russian side. Zelenskyy insists that Moscow's losses are larger than that.

“Updated data on Russian losses exceed 750,000 of their people. This is 198,000 Russians killed and more than 550,000 wounded,” the Ukrainian president said. Since September Russia has been losing five or six troops for every Ukrainian soldier lost in battle, he added.

Zelenskyy reiterated his push for a "just peace" that includes guarantees for Ukraine against a renewal of Russian aggression in the future.

"A cease-fire without guarantees [means conflict] can be reignited at any moment, as Putin has already done so," Zelenskyy said. "To guarantee that there will be no more Ukrainian casualties, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to the occupation," he added.