The Ukraine War in data: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, by the numbers

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, we thought it only fitting to use this space to look at the visit — and Zelenskyy himself — using some data and statistics.

Number of times Zelenskyy has left his country since the Russian invasion: 1. This was the first.

The last time Zelensky traveled outside Ukraine: A short trip to the Munich Security Conference in February, where he warned of the dangers of appeasing the Russians. Five days later, Russia’s armed forces invaded his country.

Distance from Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine — where Zelenskyy was Tuesday morning, visiting Ukrainian forces — to Washington, D.C.: 5,201 miles.

Number of foreign parliaments and legislatures Zelensky has addressed since the war began: 38.

The only national legislature he has addressed more than once: the U.S. Congress. He gave a virtual speech to Congress in March.

Amount of new aid to Ukraine in the current omnibus spending bill before Congress: $45 billion.

Money pledged to date: $68 billion.

Number of hours Zelenskyy was expected to spend on the ground in the U.S.: approximately 12.

Those are just some of the relevant facts and figures. The impact and import of the visit are harder to measure; historians may be doing that, years from now.

We offer a more comprehensive set of data points on the war in Ukraine below. Grid originally published this document March 24, the one-month anniversary of the war. We update it every Thursday to provide a fuller picture of the conflict.

Civilians killed: at least 6,800 (probably thousands more)

On June 7, a Ukrainian official said at least 40,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed or wounded since the war began. The official offered no breakdown of dead versus wounded civilians. The United Nations’ latest estimate of civilians killed is more than 6,800, but it consistently notes the figure is an underestimate, as is its estimate of total casualties — a combination of deaths and injuries — given as more than 17,000. (Updated Dec. 21; source, source, source.)

Ukrainian soldiers killed: at least 13,000

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, estimated in early December that 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the war began. In early November, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, estimated that both sides had about 100,000 soldiers killed or injured. (Updated Dec. 7; source, source.)

Russian soldiers killed: 5,937 to more than 99,000

From the early days of the war, casualty counts for Russian soldiers have varied widely — depending on the source. Ukraine raised its estimate of Russian soldiers killed in the conflict to more than 99,000 on Wednesday. These numbers have been updated frequently through the Facebook page for the country’s General Staff of the Armed Forces. In its first update on casualties since March, Russia claimed in late September that there had been 5,937 Russian military deaths. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said in April that there had been “significant losses of troops, and it’s a huge tragedy for us.”

A report by Meduza, an independent Russian media outlet, and the Russian branch of the BBC confirmed at least 10,000 dead Russian soldiers as of Dec. 9.

Russia has also suffered a high rate of casualties among senior officers. Thirteen Russian generals have been killed, according to Ukrainian authorities; the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency puts the figure at between eight to 10. Grid’s Tom Nagorski and Joshua Keating previously reported on the possible explanations for this “inconceivable” toll: poor communications and command-and-control structures within the Russian military. (Updated Dec. 21; source.)

Total displaced Ukrainians: approximately 14 million

There are more than 7.8 million Ukrainian refugees currently reported in other European countries. United Nations data indicates more than 16 million Ukrainians have crossed the border since the start of the war, but millions have returned home, largely from Poland, as Nikhil Kumar and Kseniia Lisnycha reported. In late October, the International Organization for Migration’s latest survey of internally displaced Ukrainians found more Ukrainians returning home from within Ukraine, but 5.9 million remained displaced within their own country. (Updated Dec. 21; source; source.)

Internally displaced Ukrainians: approximately 5.9 million

An overview of the violence

Global food markets: Wheat prices down as of Wednesday, after weeks of fluctuation

Recent Grid coverage

• How the war in Ukraine is tearing apart families in Russia: A ‘conflict with our parents’ (Dec. 21)
• Why Germany and Japan are rebuilding their military power eight decades after World War II (Dec. 20)
• World in Photos: In Ukraine, a Russian missile barrage sends people in search of shelter, water and power (Dec. 16)
• Why is the Biden administration changing its mind on giving Patriot missiles to Ukraine? (Dec. 15)
• ‘No Dumb Questions’: Why has the war in Ukraine lasted so long? (Dec. 7)

Learn more: Grid’s 360s on the Ukraine War

• 360: What led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II
• 360: Casualty of war in Ukraine: The global food supply
• 360: War in Ukraine: How we got here — and what may come next
• 360: Russia’s billionaires: Who they are, what they own — and can they influence Vladimir Putin?
• 360: Why danger still looms at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants