MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. Ukraine has lost more than 50% of its population since it became an independent nation after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Vladimir Zelensky’s former press secretary Yulia Mendel said.

"Over 35 years of its independence, Ukraine has lost more than 50% of its population. We had 52 million in 1991, but now we hardly have 25 million. More than half of these are senior citizens and people with disabilities. The working-age population barely reaches 10 million," she wrote on X.

According to Mendel, Ukraine lost nearly 800,000 people due to high mortality rates and emigration abroad last year. Also last year, as she pointed out, three times as many people died in Ukraine as were born, and this year, four times as many died as were born.

"If the war continues, will Ukraine make it another 35 years? Only peace can save the Ukrainian nation," she added.