Ukrainian anger at the EU - then they removed the number (ยูเครนเกรี้ยวกราดใส่อียู - ต้องลบออกจำนวนตัวเลขทหารเสียชีวิต)

 

Ursula von der Leyen 

 

Ukraine rages against EU chief - spoke out about dead Ukrainian soldiers 

 

Of: 

 

Josefine Karlsson 

 

Published: Yesterday 22.19 

 

NEWS 

 

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died. 

 

Ukraine collapsed – and von der Leyen deleted the sentence from his statement. 

 

Now Zelensky's staff is demanding that Brussels answer where she got the figure from. 

 

"Russia's invasion of Ukraina has brought death, destruction and untold suffering. We all remember the horrors in Butja".

This is how European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen began her video speech on Wednesday. She talked about the importance of Russia being held accountable for its actions and that the EU continues to support the work of the International Criminal Court. Von der Leyen also described that the EU, with the support of the UN, wants to establish a special court to investigate and prosecute Russia for its crimes of aggression. 

 

Something that also echoed were her words about the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed during the war. 

 

Von der Leyen said that "more than 20,000 civilians and 100,000 Ukrainian military have been killed so far". 

 

Volodymyr Zelensky. Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB 

 

Ursula von der Leyen. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix 

 

It caused Ukraine to react, which has previously been tight-lipped about military losses, as well as Russia. 

 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's press secretary Serhiy Nykyforow told Ukrainian television that it is not Ursula von der Leyen's business to comment on the number of dead, but something that only President Zelenskyi, the Minister of Defense or the Commander-in-Chief can do, reports Focus. 

 

Removed the sentence from the speech 

 

After the criticism, her statement was corrected both on Twitter and the European Commission's website and the sentence is deleted, reports Politico. 

 

Later on Wednesday, the EU Commission must have regretted what happened and apologized. The estimate of the number of dead was incorrect,The Guardian reports. 

 

A couple of weeks ago, American General Mark Milley stated that over 100,000 Russian soldiers had died and that "it was probably the same number on the Ukrainian side". 

 

According to Serhij Nykyforow, the presidential staff in Kyiv has turned to Brussels and requested an answer to where Ursula von der Leyen got the death toll from. 

 

War scenes in Kyiv this spring. War scenes in Kyiv this spring. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP