President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion two years ago, giving the first official figure for more than a year.

Zelensky told a news conference in Kyiv that he could not disclose the number of wounded because it would help Russian military planning.

“31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000 … Putin is lying there … But nevertheless, this is a big loss for us.”

Ukraine has not put a number to its military losses since the end of 2022, when presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the invasion on February 24.

Zelensky said tens of thousands of civilians had died Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

“I don’t know how many of them died, how many were killed, how many were murdered, tortured, how many were deported.”

Russia does not disclose military losses, which it regards as secret.

However Zelensky claimed Russia’s troop losses were 180,000. The UK Defence Ministry has estimated 350,000 killed or injured.