The United States military now estimates that 180,000 Russian soldiers and more than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded in the invasion of Ukraine. "We are repelling all attacks," he told Ukrainian television. David Arakhamia, one of Ukraine's top officials, told Axios earlier this month up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers were being killed or wounded each day in the Donbas Russian President Vladimir Putin told the FSB security service on Tuesday to step up its activity to counter what he described as growing espionage and sabotage operations against Russia by Ukraine and the West. Mr Wallace used the same figure in June while attending a NATO summit, so it may be out of date.. He said that IAEA inspectors at the site documented at least 20 detonations on Monday. "On that particular task force is very focused on new technologies (artificial intelligence), for example, of very advanced microchips, which could be very dangerous, obviously, in the hands of an adversary, which are being exported, and are beating export controls," Garland said. Previously, the only observed launch site since mid-December 2022 was from the Krasnodar region, across the Sea of Azov.". Britain's Ministry of Defense noted in its daily intelligence updated that "due to the vector of the attack, these Shahed-UAVs were highly likely launched from the Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Video footage, captured by Sky News, showed the toddler being taken to hospital, wrapped in a blanket, by his parents. and Basil's Cathedral in central Moscow on February 13, 2023. During an appearance on the Today programme on 21 September, foreign minister Gillian Keegan claimed that 55,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine. Russia's slow but steady march on Bakhmut has raised questions over whether Ukraine will have to decide to withdraw its troops from the city in order to save its personnel. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. This took its tally of Russian losses after 371 days of war to 150,605a daily average of just over 405. It says only 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed and denies Russian claims from earlier this month of nearly 3,000 Ukrainian military casualties. Former Soviet satellite Slovakia has been a NATO member since 2004, but the reality of belonging to the world's biggest military alliance really kicked in after Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. India has also invited nine other countries as special guests. "Besides, the number of soldiers missing in action or captured is not known.". Russia has also lost 6,638 armored fighting vehicles, 5,257 vehicles and fuel tanks, 3,395 tanks, 2,393 artillery systems, 2,055 drones, 479 multiple launch rocket systems, 300 airplanes, 288 helicopters, 247 air defense systems and 18 boats, according to the report. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled Kyiv is preparing its soldiers for counteroffensives and praised soldiers for defending the country despite the "insane pressure" Russian forces have been putting on them. Police detain a man during an anti-war protest in front of the Kremlin in Moscow last week. I trust theNational Assembly will make a wise decision as soon aspossible!". But there are indications, including from open sources, that Russia is sustaining heavy losses during the fighting. Because were not on the ground, we cant see, you know, whats really going on, on a day-to-day basis.. "That is why the so-called partial mobilization was avoided for a long time in Russia and why so many young Russia men fled the country.". These figures have not been verified by Newsweek. Russia detained her dad. February 27, 2023. The Russian Army is on the verge of losing 150,000 soldiers since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, according to officials in Kyiv. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images. From CNN's Jessie Gretener, Eleanor Pickston and Laura Ford. Heres what we know. ", OHCHR, Number of civilian casualties in Ukraine during Russia's invasion verified by OHCHR as of February 26, 2023 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293492/ukraine-war-casualties/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Number of civilian casualties in Ukraine during Russia's invasion verified by OHCHR as of February 26, 2023 [Graph], OHCHR, February 27, 2023. This took its tally of Russian losses after 371 days of war to 150,605a daily average of just over 405. Slovakia is also working to upgrade its own armed forces to NATO standards. Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, spoke with national security advisor Jake Sullivan. Speculating on military losses, the socio-economic consequences of sanctions, to provoke a civil rebellion in Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he has no plans to meet with his Russian or Chinese counterparts at the G-20 foreign ministers meeting. Our live coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine has moved here. More than 8,500 Russians crossed the border in one day alone. Men carry bags containing three freshly exhumed bodies in a cemetery on the outskirts of Borodyanka, Ukraine, Thursday, March 2, 2023. Russia's President Vladimir Putin takes part in the opening ceremony of new hospitals in Russian regions via a video link at a residence outside Moscow, Russia, February 15, 2023. An aerial view of destruction in Bakhmut on Feb. 27, 2023. Its almost a state secret, said a Russian military commentator who asked not to be quoted by name to discuss the issue. Vladimir Shtanko | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images. An added complication with estimating Russian casualties in the war in Ukraine is that Russian military deaths are reportedly classed as state secrets, and divulging them can result in prison sentences. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Wednesday, a day before attending the G20 foreign ministers meeting, Indian and Russian officials said. Russia has previously said its troops in Ukraine do not deliberately target civilians or commit war crimes. The Rage Brigade is the name emblazoned across the poster showing a fierce, gun-wielding soldier at the recruiting centre in western Kyiv. A war crimes prosecutor looks on as a police officer enters an underground air raid shelter that was believed to be used as a prison by Russian occupying forces during a search for evidence of war crimes on October 15, 2022 in Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine. The Russian people are today waking up to the fact thatfifty-five thousand of their troops have already lost their lives in the short, six-month conflict., Russian casualties continue to climb, with an estimated 25,000 Russian dead.. He was injured by shrapnel. Up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are being killed or wounded each day in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, with 200 to 500 killed on average and many more wounded, a top Ukrainian official said on Wednesday. "Until the United States changes its behavior, until we see signs of common sense in what they are doing in relation to Ukraine we see no chance for the decision to suspend START to be reviewed or re-examined," Ryabkov said, according to comments to Russian news agency Interfax that were translated by Google. "The very high estimates of Russian casualties suggest these populations are powerless, expendable and politically inconsequential," Appel said. The US has not found any evidence that weapons it has provided to Ukraine have been found outside of Ukraine, according to the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. And is using its fifth column in order to achieve this goal the destruction of Russia.. Alleged terrorist attack in West Russia fuels hard-line pressure on Putin, Heavy fighting as Russians advance in Bakhmut, but Ukrainian units hold on, Russias top diplomat offers the U.S. little hope for diplomacy. Show publisher information reported by Russian news agency Ria Novosti. Tracking those who are killed and corroborating their deaths is objectively difficult if youre trying to get it right, according to Baruch Fischhoff, a professor at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Institute for Politics and Strategy. In Kyiv, Yellen showcases heft of economic aid to Ukraine. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. Lavrov is scheduled to meet his Chinese, Bangladeshi and South African counterparts later on Wednesday, the official added. But as the war drags on and the battle lines shift, no one not the United Nations, Ukrainian government or U.S. or NATO officials can provide an accurate count of how many people have been injured or killed. Yermak also expressed "gratitude to the entire American people, the U.S. president and both chambers of Congress for the continued strong support of our country in the fight against the terrorist state," according to a readout provided by the Ukrainian government. Accessed March 04, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293492/ukraine-war-casualties/, OHCHR. A Ukrainian serviceman of the 93rd brigade covers his ears while firing a French 120mm rifled towed mortar (designated as a MO-120-RT-61) towards Russian positions in Bakhmut on February 15, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In a speech to FSB officials, Putin said the agency had to stop "sabotage groups" entering Russia from Ukraine, step up protection of key infrastructure, and prevent any attempts by Western security services to revive what he called terrorist or extremist cells on Russian territory. The commander of Ukraine's ground forces told Zelenskyy on Tuesday that 800 Russian soldiers had died in the vicinity of Bakhmut alone since last Thursday. A girl drew an antiwar picture in school. Senators grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland on the Justice Department's oversight of measures to check Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Oryx Blog, an open-source site that tracks military-equipment losses, has reported that Russia has lost 1,666 vehicles in Ukraine, of which more than 800 have been destroyed during the conflict. Currently, you are using a shared account. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the committee's ranking member, to declare the group a foreign terrorist organization. A Division of NBCUniversal. He said it "doesn't make sense" to train Ukrainians on the F-16 system if they might not receive it. Several military analysts and NGOs declined to comment on the Komsomolskaya Pravda story because of concerns about a legal backlash and possible punishment for discussing unofficial numbers. "The average rate of Russian soldiers killed per month is at least 25 times the number killed per month in Chechnya and 35 times the number killed in Afghanistan, which highlight the stark realities of a war of attrition," the study says. Though, this does assume the Russian forces operating in Ukraine havent been replenished since the start of the invasion. Ukraine's top intelligence agency said that it had not seen evidence that China agreed to supply Russia with weapons. Zelensky said Russia was suffering heavy losses around the eastern city, based on an update from his commanders. How many such families have died in Ukraine. The Kremlins first statement on Russian military casualties in their invasion of Ukraine, on March 2, 2022, noted that 498 soldiers had been killed and 1,597 wounded. In its edited story, Komsomolskaya Pravda also deleted a line saying that the Russian defence ministry has denied Ukrainian reports of supposedly massive losses in Ukraine. "This decrease in OWA UAV attack tempo likely indicates that Russia has run down its current stock: it will likely seek a resupply," it said. Four more Ukrainian drones were disabled by electronic warfare," it said, news agency Tass reported, noting there were no casualties from the incident. Whats clear is that Russias battlefield losses are real and that they took many by surprise. Scott Peterson | Getty Images News | Getty Images. During questioning, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pointed to the bipartisan measure sponsored by himself, Sens. Patriot missile defence system is seen at Sliac Airport, in Sliac, near Zvolen, Slovakia, May 6, 2022. He added that providing Ukraine with new F-16s would take between three to six years. His account tallies with what commanders on the ground have reported about the intensity of Russian assaults and the casualties they have sustained. "It is a complex decision, with serious consequences, socareful consideration is necessary," Novak said on Facebook. For the first time, the Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed a substantial number of casualties in Ukraine, announcing that 498 Russian The figures include Ukrainian territories controlled by the government and areas occupied by Russia. In July, during an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum, MI6 chief Richard Moore put the then death toll at 15,000 but admitted this was a conservative estimate. The Olympic rings standing in front of the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 20, 2021 ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivers a speech during a session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, in Moscow, Russia February 15, 2023. Military personnel show the fragments of unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Russian Federation against Ukraine to journalists during a press conference of the Ukraine's Security and Defense Forces at the Military Media Center in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 15, 2022. "Who could have imagined a year ago that such a tragedy could be inflicted by one country on another in Eastern Europe in the 21st century? Funding has been granted for the projects pilot phase, as well as the implementation of the most important target areas, which are set to be constructed between 2023 and 2025. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war.. Their bodies were recovered from the rubble of a bread factory, local emergency services said. One reason to be sceptical of the 55,000 figure is that it appears to make little allowance for the number of soldiers injured during the fighting. The false information was immediately deleted.. Russian forces continue to pummel Bakhmut on Wednesday but have not fully surrounded the city, according to Reuters. And that has proved a boon to embattled Ukraine, where much of Slovakia's old Soviet-era heavy weaponry has ended up. As of the 12th day of Russias invasion of Ukraine, the UN confirmed in a statement on Monday it had recorded 406 civilian deaths and 801 injuries as a result of the conflict. (February 27, 2023). The group is set to meet in New Delhi, India this week. "Number of civilian casualties in Ukraine during Russia's invasion verified by OHCHR as of February 26, 2023." Russian fighters have also been recruited from prisons and poor regions, she added, and are "sent to the slaughter" without proper training and support. Kyiv is yet to comment on those claims. These Ukrainian villagers live in Cold War nuclear bunkers and plan to st Sakharov Center forced to close as wartime Russia purges human rights group Ukraine briefing: Winter is over Zelensky says, praising effort to mainta Ukrainians welcome spring, say they survived Putins winter terror. Russia's Ministry of Defense did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. As Russian forces ramp up their offensive in the Donbas, the number of casualties has increased. Kahl said Ukraines top three priorities remain air defenses, artillery and armor, which he said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized to President Joe Biden during their meeting in Kyiv last week. The intensity of the fighting is growing," he said. See here for the latest updates. Zelenskyy said "Russia does not count people at all, sending them to constantly storm our positions. Comparison of the military capabilities of NATO and Russia 2022, Growth of the global gross domestic product (GDP) 2027, Comparison of military capabilities of Russia and Ukraine 2023, Number of Ukrainian refugees 2023, by country. This figure, which appears to have been taken directly from the daily update provided by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is significantly higher than the death toll suggested by western intelligence services, other branches of the UK government and independent analysts of the conflict. US intelligence officials this week gave a conservative estimate that more than 7,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in fighting in Ukraine since late February, a number that would exceed the official death toll among Russian servicemen for the two years of the first Chechen war, which is remembered as a particularly brutal and haphazard campaign. Up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are being killed or wounded each day in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, with 200 to 500 killed on average and many more You deserve better. The commander of Ukraine's ground forces told Zelenskyy on Tuesday that 800 Russian soldiers had died in the vicinity of Bakhmut alone since last Thursday. Garland defended his department's monitoring of sanctions evasions by bad actors during the Senate Judiciary Committee's first hearing of the year. Ukraine said an average of 824 Russian soldiers were dying every day in February 2023, and while those figures cannot be independently verified, the general Are you interested in testing our business solutions? Three people were killed and ten apartments were damaged in the strike. The best of the best: the portal for top lists & rankings: Strategy and business building for the data-driven economy: Show sources information Although the nature of any armed conflict makes it impossible to obtain accurate statistics, there are good reasons to doubt this figure. U.S. Screenshots and archived versions of the deleted report quickly went viral, as critics pointed to the article as evidence that the Kremlin was suffering catastrophic losses in the month-old war. You only have access to basic statistics. The cost of doing so would quickly drain the authorized money for providing US aid to Ukraine, Kahl said, when F-16s are not one of the top three priorities for Kyiv right now. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks to journalists after the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on November 16, 2022. At the same event, CIA director William Burns responded to the question of Russian casualties by saying: Well it's always a range and you know there's no there's no perfect number. The Wagner Group is responsible for a deadly attack on the Donbas region of Ukraine and for using prisoners as cannon fodder, according to Garland. Those confirmed destroyed include 111 tanks, 74 armoured fighting vehicles, 123 infantry fighting vehicles, and 312 trucks, vehicles and jeeps. "There are no signs that China will agree to send any weapons to the Russian Federation," Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry, said in an interview with Voice of America. Helsinki closed its borderat the endof September 2022, around the time traffic over the frontier intensified as Russians tried to flee President Vladimir Putins partial mobilization of hundreds of thousands of citizens to fight in the war. "The most difficult situation, still, is in Bakhmut and the battles that are essential for the defense of the city," Zelensky said in his nightly video message Tuesday. UN has recorded 406 deaths and 801 injuries among Ukraines civilian population since 24 February. Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out several drone attacks against its own territory on Tuesday. Historical justice will be restored. Anastasiia Yalanskaya, a 26-year-old woman, was killed while attempting to deliver supplies to a dog shelter in Bucha on Thursday. All in all, Slovakia has given Ukraine arms worth almost $179 million, and has also recouped over $87 million through a dedicated EU fund. Remember: The Finnish border was one of the few entry points for Russians after many Western countries shut their air space and borders to Russian planes in response to the Ukraine invasion. Grossi said the site, which is Europe's largest nuclear power plant, temporarily lost power on "its only remaining backup power line.". Here are some of the Ukrainian people who have died. To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set And amid an information vacuum in Russia, rumours have spread over the hundreds, or thousands more, who have been killed in the ensuing weeks. "It's just unfathomable what they are doing and everything we can do to stop them, we should do," he said. Ukraine's biggest challenge is defending the city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video message Tuesday. Russia stressed that the suspension was reversible and Ryabkov said Wednesday that discussions on the treaty are being conducted through closed channels currently. The UNs human rights office announced on Saturday 847 civilians had died in Ukraine since 24 February, including 155 men, 119 women, 21 boys and seven girls. While the The report was later removed and the paper accused hackers of posting what it said was a fake insert and inaccurate information., Understanding the weapons that have drawn the world's attention since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its very difficult to gather good information in the middle of violence because theres chaos; its dangerous to walk around and actually count how many casualties, how many injured, how many killed, said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. A destroyed residential building in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to bring "every murderer, terrorist and torturer" to justice. Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russias war in Ukraine. As the bulk of the fighting is being carried out by soldiers drafted in from Russian-controlled regions of Donetsk and Lugansk which are part of Ukraine, along with a large number of mercenaries, these casualties may not be included in the total reported by Russia. It quoted one employee of the Homel regional clinical hospital, who said that more than 2,500 soldiers corpses had been shipped from the Belarusian region back to Russia as of 13 March. Just minutes later, the line was gone. The cost of sending 36 older F-16s to Ukraine, which is approximately half of what the US Air Force estimates Ukraine will ultimately need to replace its Soviet-era fighters, will cost about $2-3 billion, Kahl said. Privacy, terms and conditions. As of 16 September, the BBC Russian service, with independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, had counted 6,476 dead soldiers and officers, based only on confirmed death reports and estimated the true total to be at least 40% to 60% higher than this figure. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293492/ukraine-war-casualties/, Number of civilian casualties in Ukraine during Russia's invasion verified by OHCHR as of February 26, 2023, Number of civilian casualties during the war in Ukraine 2023, Total bilateral aid commitments to Ukraine 2022-2023, by country and type, GDP growth in CEE and Central Asia 2021-2024, by country, Russia-Ukraine war keyword mentions in online press worldwide 2022, Ratio of military expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) in Russia 2021, Ratio of military expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP) in Ukraine 2021, Combined defense expenditure of NATO countries 2014-2022, Military spending in current prices in the CEE region 2021-2022, Expenditure on defense as a share of GDP in the CEE region 2021-2022, Total number of border crossings from and to Ukraine 2022-2023, Number of refugees from war-stricken Ukraine in CEE 2023, by country, Ukrainian refugees per thousand inhabitants in the OECD 2022, by country, Costs of receiving Ukrainian refugees in Europe 2022, by country and type, Monthly support per Ukrainian refugee in Europe 2022, by country, Total bilateral aid to Ukraine as a percentage of donor GDP 2022-2023, by country, Ukraine weapon deliveries value 2022, by country, Number of armored vehicles commited to Ukraine 2022-2023, by country, Number of artillery, mortar, and MRL units commited to Ukraine 2022-2023, by country, U.S. military equipment transported to Ukraine since Russian invasion 2022, by type, Delivered military aid from Germany to Ukraine 2023, Sanctions imposed on Russia 2022-2023, by actor, Sanctions imposed on Russia 2022-2023, by target, Sanctions imposed on Russia daily 2022-2023, by actor, Russian individuals and entities sanctioned by the EU over Ukraine 2014-2022, Impact of the war in Ukraine on GDP growth worldwide 2022, by country, Forecast of inflation rate globally 2022-2024, by country, Impact of the war in Ukraine on poverty in the EU 2022, by country, Russia-Ukraine war impact on poverty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 2022, Ukrainian grain export share via the Black Sea 2023, by country income, Fossil fuel export revenue in Russia monthly 2022, by type, Russian fossil fuel exports since the war in Ukraine 2022-2023, by country and type, Russian market share in revenue of companies leaving Russia 2022, Russian market share in revenue of German companies operating in Russia 2022, Leading international advertisers in Russia 2021, Social media user change due to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter bans in Russia 2022, Public opinion on NATO membership in Ukraine 2022, Public opinion on EU membership in Ukraine 2022, Support for Ukraine EU membership in key EU member states 2022, Opinion on selected statements on the Russia-Ukraine war worldwide 2022, Popularity of further actions in response to the Russia-Ukraine war 2022, Support for cutting economic ties with Russia 2022, by selected country, Number of civilian casualties during the war in Ukraine weekly 2022-2023, Number of civilian casualties during the war in Ukraine monthly 2022-2023, Russia: opinion on military actions in Ukraine 2023, by age group, Number of political violence events in Ukraine monthly 2022-2023, by type, Air Alarm app downloads in Ukraine monthly 2022, Russia: opinion on military actions in Ukraine monthly 2022-2023, Russia: opinion on duration of military actions in Ukraine 2023, Share of Russians worried about events in Ukraine monthly 2022-2023, Hungarians opinion on the EU buying arms for Ukraine 2022, Ukraine refugees granted temporary protection in Czechia 2022, Hungarians' opinion on the EU financially supporting Ukraine on a monthly basis 2022, Share of Hungarians personally worried about the war in Ukraine 2022, Share of Finns personally worried about the war in Ukraine 2022, Opinion on German government's policy on the war in Ukraine August 2022, French views on the intervention of French and NATO armed forces in Ukraine 2022, Opinion on the biggest obstacle to peace between Russia and Ukraine 2022, by country, Brands and agencies responding to war in Ukraine, Find your information in our database containing over 20,000 reports, highest death toll was recorded in March 2022. German Interior Minister invited Ukrainian athletes to train in Germany in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Fifty-five thousand Russian troops have lost their lives fighting in Ukraine. A man wearing military uniform with a Z letter, a tactical insignia of Russian troops in Ukraine, makes a selfie photo at Red Square in front of St. Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that it's difficult for one military faction to calculate its own losseslet alone tally that of an adversary. Analysts have warned about taking that information at face value during a war where western countries want to emphasise the toll of the war on the Russian military while the Kremlin wants to downplay its losses. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under NATO ground rules, said the alliance estimates that 30,000 to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded or captured in Ukraine. He added that the team should have been replaced nearly a month ago. We dont know exactly [how many people have died] at the given moment, its better to discuss other questions.. Russia has thrown thousands of troops into the fighting around Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk that it is determined to capture in a bid to rupture Ukrainian supply lines in the east. It is believed that her car was targeted by Russian forces. However, Pat Willerton, a professor of political science at the University of Arizona and an expert on Russian politics told Full Fact the number may be misleading rather than strictly inaccurate. At first glance these figures appear to be far too low, especially given that Vladimir Putin recently announced a partial mobilisation aimed at boosting troop numbers by 300,000. Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. Exactly how many Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine remains a mystery. But it could not independently confirm that account. A new OECD-Ukraine liaison office in Kyiv will begin operating Wednesday, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said in a statement on Feb. 24.