“The president came and I started walking,” the wounded serviceman reportedly told the Ukrainian leader
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that an injured soldier credited him with restoring his ability to walk, adding that the tale should inspire his troops to “believe in Ukraine and believe in yourself.”
In an interview with the government-sponsored United News telethon on Thursday, Zelensky was asked to share an inspirational story to motivate Ukrainians to continue to fight against Russia.
He recounted meeting an injured soldier who had been taken to the US for treatment.
“I took a photo with him. He didn’t walk,” the Ukrainian leader said. “I just got a message before the interview, in which he said: ‘the president came and I started walking. Let him come more often’.”
“I think, of course, that this result did not depend on me, [but] on the doctors, but it was a pleasant moment,” Zelensky continued.
It is unclear exactly how many Ukrainian soldiers have been injured since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, as Kiev does not publish casualty figures. Zelensky claimed last month that 43,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed and 370,000 injured, although he insisted that the latter figure includes those with repeat and minor wounds.
The death toll put forward by Zelensky is widely seen as unrealistic. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said earlier this month that Ukraine had lost one million service members to death and injury since February 2022, with more than half of that number coming in 2024 alone.
Ukrainian battlefield commanders continue to complain of a critical shortage of manpower, despite Kiev implementing stricter mobilization rules and lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 this spring.
Zelensky admitted during Thursday’s interview that desertion increased significantly last year, saying that “people are getting tired” and “there are not many reserves.” Back in November, AP reported that 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had officially been charged with desertion. However, the actual numbers could be twice as high, according to estimates published by other media outlets.
The US, Ukraine’s largest military backer, has urged Kiev to lower its draft age to 18 in order to bolster troop numbers on the front lines. According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Zelensky intends to comply with this request in the near future.
