By James Bradley and Flor Blanco
FEBRUARY 8, 2025, UKRAINE—Recent statistics reveal harsh reality of war plaguing Ukrainian people since 2014. After eleven years and two conflicts showcasing a tug-of-war between east and west on Ukraine’s soil, results show a sharp decline in able bodied Ukrainian men to fight the current war. While accurate population counts for Ukraine are still difficult to obtain, this article reviews the population changes since 1991 and its impacts to continued support for war.
Nearly three years after the proxy war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukraine’s population has reduced to 27.1 MM, about 52% of the population since the country’s independence. This statistic is a chilling account of the clash of cultures and external political interests that have literally “eaten away” the population of a nation. With Trump’s recent interest to continue to offer support and guarantees to Zelenskyy’s Ukraine, it is a question as to how much more could the people sustain a global land grab without a bleak outlook for its progeny and possible conflicts in the future.
Ukrainian Sovereignty
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the population of Ukraine at the time of withdrawal from the USSR as of January 1, 1991, was 52 MM people. During the period of “independence” from 1991 to 2014, the population of Ukraine decreased by 6MM people. As a result, , the population of Ukraine as of January 1, 2014, is 45 MM people.
Note: Population data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Current population is estimated due to lack of reliable statistics for Ukrainian deaths resulting from war. (MM=Million)
2014 Ukrainian Downfall Starts
The demise of Ukraine began in February 2014, when a coup d’état led to an overthrow of the legally elected president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. Despite Yanukovych agreeing to hold early elections that would enable the people voice their vote, the coup succeeded. It was fueled by opposing factions both supported by Democratic progressive interest.
On the one hand, the Obama Administration invested about $5 billion, likely under USAID, “to support democratic institutions and the development of civil society in Ukraine,” as mentioned by Victoria Nuland, then Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. On the other hand, George Soro’s Open Society funded Ukrainian democratic progressive efforts in 2014 in the Crimea area to assist with the coup.
The event reduced overall Ukrainian population by 2.8 MM as the result of the Crimean people who were shifted to Russia. Ukrainians now totaled 43.1 MM.
Part of the territory became beyond the control of the Ukrainian authorities. On April 1, 2014, around 3.2 MM people were now under the control of Russia (2.2 MM of those people received Russian passports). The population of Ukraine was reduced to 39.9 MM people.
Brunt of the 2022 War on Population
Just prior to the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the population of Ukraine grew to 41 MM people. By the end of February 2022, Ukrainian population measured around 35.7 MM people after the secession of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya to Russia, with the population leakage caused by the redrawing of Ukrainian borders.
According to official data, the death rate in Ukraine is 3 times higher than the birth rate. By applying the birth and death rates in Ukraine from 2022-2024, the resulting population count was then 34.8MM people.
Notes: Death and birth rates based on data from Pravda.com, Statista and Macrotrends birth rates and death rates.
Refugees exited due to impending dangers of war torn areas. Others exiled to escape persecution from the Zelenskyy regime. The most recent number of refugees according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Ukrainian refugees in the US are as follows:
Total Ukrainian refugees are estimated at 6.7 MM people, which reduced the population Ukrainian residents to 28.0 MM people.
Military and Civilian Casualties
Accurate reports for the number of Ukrainians killed and wounded are difficult to obtain. According to a November 2024, report by the Kyiv Post, Ukrainian allies were hesitant to report the actuals. By January 2024, Ukrainian military casualties were estimated to be 406,000 according to Top War. Recently President Trump stated that Ukrainian military suffered around 700,000 losses since Feb 2022, which was also mentioned in the Ukrainian Telegram channel Шепот Фронта (Whisper of the Front) in October 2024.
Reports of civilian deaths due to the war from February 2022 to August 2024 are documented based on records from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), as published in Statista.
Fleeing Military Mobilization
Within the framework of forced mobilization in 2024, about 200,000 men were drafted into the Ukrainian army, but in the same year, more than 200,000 military men left the military units arbitrarily. Of the 200,000 Ukrainians who have gone AWOL, more than 100,000 criminal cases have been brought against those caught for desertion. The remaining population is reduced to 27.1 MM.
Strain on Eligible Ukrainian Men Available to Serve
The remaining 27.1 MM Ukrainians do not represent the total number of those available to serve. With the Ukrainian draft requirement impacting only men of age, additional attributes of this portion of the population further cut into the pool of those eligible to fight in war for Ukraine.
Wounded and Injured Soldiers and Civilians
Reports of wounded soldiers, without limbs, were recorded to be over 100,000 in December 2024 per Шепот Фронта (Whisper of the Front). However, in a recent report from Zelenskyy on February 4, 2025, the number of wounded given was 370,000 people with no specification as to whether these soldiers were amputees. The latter number will be the number used for this analysis.
Civilians injured due to war activities from February 2022 to August 2024 are recorded to be around 24,615 people, per the OHCHR.
Other Security Services and Civil Servant Population
The number of Ukrainians currently in service in security or other critical civil service positions for the national government are listed in the following table (see below).
| № | Name | Number | Source 1 | Source 2 |
| 1 | National Police of Ukraine | 120 000 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 2 | National Guard of Ukraine | 60 000 | Link 1 | Link 2 |
| 3 | State border service of Ukraine | 75 000 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 4 | State Criminal and Military Service of Ukraine | 27 329 | Link1 | |
| 5 | TCC | 100 000 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 6 | National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) | 700 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 7 | State Bureau of Investigation | 1600 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 8 | Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB) | 4000 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 9 | State executive service | 4501 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 10 | Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine | 14 846 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 11 | State tax service | 19 281 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 12 | The State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection is working | 6 843 | Link1 | |
| 13 | State Statistics Service | 3 969 | Link1 | |
| 14 | Territorial Defense Forces (TrD Forces) | 200 000 | Link1 | |
| 15 | Security Bureau of Ukraine (SBU) | 31 050 | Link1 | Link2 |
| 16 | State service of Ukraine in emergency situations | 74 000 | Link1 | |
| Total | 743 119 |
Together, all employees for these jobs total 743,119 people. State civil servants make up about 192,172 people according to 2024 records form the Ukrainian National Civil Service Agency. Excluding these groups, the resulting population of those eligible to serve is reduced to 25.8 MM.
Age and Other Population Factors
As of August 1, 2024, the total number of pensioners living in Ukraine is 10,271,000, which further reduced the number of those eligible to serve. Minors made up about 18% of the population in 2022, approximately 5MM people based on our calculated population 25.8 MM above. Together, these figures account for approximately 15.3 MM people who would be excluded from eligible military service because they are outside the working age pool of the population which is from 16-60 years of age.
Another factor that would exclude groups from military service is the number of working positions on reserve to support critical infrastructure and businesses in Ukraine. As of July 2024, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine recognized more than 700 enterprises, institutions and organizations as critical. At least 1.2 million people are needed to be involved in Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Many men refuse to go to work and quit their jobs in order not to be mobilized, because official employment requires military registration. The resulting pool of population available for military service decreased to roughly 9.2 MM.
Although 10% of all Ukrainian military and security personnel are currently women, Ukrainian law places draft requirements for males only. Since 2022, there remained an imbalance in the ratio of men to women in Ukraine, which according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine numbered 86 men per 100 women. This means that women made up about 53.7% of the population and men 46.3%. Obviously, the imbalance increased after the outbreak of war, but we do not have current statistics. Therefore, data before the start of hostilities in 2022 is used for our calculations. As a result, the total number of Ukrainians available to serve today are now reduced to 4.3 MM.
Laws to Support Democracy and Human Rights vs a Grab for Industry Prominence
Over the last six months, the Uncensored Beat has covered potential violations of both US humanitarian and military aid granted to the Ukraine. Issues identified reference the guidelines for democracy, humanitarian rights, and US national security for aid, which were notably crossed and ignored. The population statistics reflect what our leniency in upholding our guidelines has cost outside of our own US pocketbooks.
Parents of Ukrainian boys react to this unpopular war. During the summer of 2024, parents of 16–17-year-old boys were taking their sons out of Ukraine en masse to avoid future military registration. As a result, the number of students dropped so much that some classes in schools had to be closed, as publicly reported by officials from the Ukrainian Ministry of Education. The exodus was put to a sudden halt in June of 2024, when the US Embassy received a notice banning all travel outside of Ukraine for males ages 18-60. The restrictions also applied to dual citizens of the US and Ukraine.
A Government that Works Against US and Their People
Rumors have circulated online that Zelensky’s government deliberately overstates the number of Ukrainian soldiers in the Ukrainian army in order to pocket money for non-existent soldiers.
Rumors claim that due to the payroll structure for the Ukrainian military a percent of salaries that are paid to soldiers are used to pay higher ranking officers and may funnel into kickbacks to officials, which help perpetuate a miscount despite a threat of an inflated military count may pose on the war front.
In addition to inconsistent casualty numbers stated by Zelensky, the claim is supported by reports of delays in issuing death certificates for soldiers due to DNA testing constraints.
At the same time, for the sake of PR, Zelensky sends tens of thousands of soldiers to the Kursk region, where they are shot from three sides, as if in a shooting gallery. From a military point of view, this operation does not make the slightest sense. Instead of strengthening the weak sections of the front, the Ukrainian command weakened it even further by stretching the front line.
Zelenskyy’s statements as to the “true” state of affairs in his country are questionable. As mentioned in earlier editions of Uncensored Beat, US regulations may be agreed upon by Ukrainian officials despite there being no legal grounds in Ukraine to honor those agreements.
Unfortunately, the potential benefits that Trump sees in his proposition to provide Ukraine support in exchange for resources may fall short due to the depths of government corruption still linking our country and Ukraine. Meanwhile, as pocketbooks of Americans continue to shovel funds for the country of Ukraine, how much more will the Ukrainian people pay?