Zelensky says that 43 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Russian occupation

About 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the full Russian occupation of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

In a post on social media, the Ukrainian president said another 370,000 have been injured, although that figure included soldiers who had been injured more than once.

He also claimed that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and another 550,000 wounded, the Telegraph reported.

The BBC has been unable to verify either side's figures. While Kiev and Moscow have regularly published estimates of each other's losses, they have been reluctant to detail their own.

The new figure marks a significant increase in deaths in Ukraine since the beginning of the year.

The last time Zelensky gave an update on Ukraine's casualties was in February, when he put the death toll at 31,000.

The Ukrainian president is believed to have been forced to concede after US President-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media that Ukraine had "ridiculously lost" 400,000 soldiers, while around 600,000 Russians had been killed or wounded. Trump has not stated where these figures come from.

The incoming president, who has long made it clear he wants to end the war, said many lives had been "needlessly destroyed".

Zelensky's estimates of Russian losses are similar to those given by senior Western officials, who estimate that Russia has suffered around 800,000 casualties, killed and wounded.

The UK Ministry of Defense says Russia suffered 45,680 casualties in November alone – more than in any month since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Moscow disputes these figures. In a statement, the Kremlin claimed that Ukrainian losses were "many times higher" than Russian ones.

Outside of Russia, the consensus is that Russian casualty figures are much higher than Ukraine's due to their "meat grinder" tactics.

Recent developments in the war have only added to the death toll.

Russian forces continue to make incremental advances along the eastern front line, capturing and retaking about 2,350 square kilometers of territory in eastern Ukraine and Russia's western Kursk region since the start of the year.

Ukrainian forces maintain control over a small part of Russian territory, which was captured during a surprise offensive in Russia in August.

The Russian Defense Ministry says more than 38,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Kursk alone, a number that cannot be verified.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Eight years later, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has seized territories in the south and east of the country.