Your family and friends have personally witnessed 3500 killings themselves? In that case, the total number over Ukraine has to be a lot larger. Or, you misunderstand how much information your family and friends can confirm.
I hope everything will end up OK with your friends and relatives, may they experience peace as soon as possible.
If the witnessed info matches the news in different parts of the city and country - the reported numbers are obviously close. Sure there is some exaggeration but in this situation it must be supported as it helps reduce aggression and lowers invader's morale. We will of course find the true numbers later, but now is not the time for that.
At the very least, Russia lost two gigantic IL-76 last night (confirmed by US). We don’t know how many people were aboard, but each one could easily have 200-400. A figure of 3500 casualties (KIA + wounded) does not seem unreasonable.