Ukrainian Donbas casualties fall by more than half in 2020

Fifty Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the warfare in
Donbas in 2020, while 339 were injured, Ihor Lossovskiy, an influential
Ukrainian diplomat in Vienna, told the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation on
Jan. 27, as reported by the Ukrinform news agency. That’s compared to 132
killed and 716 injured in 2019. Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in
Donbas so far this year, while three have been injured.

Zenon Zawada: Ukrainian
President Zelensky claimed numerous times in 2020 that
he achieved a ceasefire in Donbas. These statistics further disprove that
claim. Though Zelensky can certainly claim an achievement in reducing deaths
and injuries (even if he was not directly responsible for that).

Nonetheless, these figures are not enough to satisfy
the Ukrainian public, which is not satisfied with the situation in Donbas. A
mandatory draft is still held every year (most recently on Oct. 1), which the majority
of military-age men wish to avoid (with the support of their parents).

The longer the war is extended, the more Ukrainians are open to the capitulation
option that is being proposed by the Opposition Platform For Life party. With
the hybrid war against Ukraine proceeding largely as Putin had planned, we see
no incentive for him to stop it.