The number of Russian troops killed or wounded in Ukraine has topped 1 million, military officials in Kyiv said Thursday, describing the huge price that Moscow has paid for its three-year-old invasion. The claim by the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, which came on a holiday celebrating Russia's sovereignty, is in line with Western intelligence estimates, per the AP. The announcement came as Russia is celebrating Russia Day, during which President Vladimir Putin hosted a Kremlin meeting with soldiers decorated for their service in Ukraine, though neither he nor any other officials commented on the Ukrainian claim.
The UK Defense Ministry also said in a statement Thursday posted on X that Russia has suffered at least 1 million "combat losses," including roughly 250,000 killed since it launched the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. On June 3, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said Russia likely would hit the mark of 1 million casualties this summer in what it called "a stunning and grisly milestone."
Russia last reported its military casualties early in the war when it acknowledged that about 6,000 soldiers had been killed. Earlier this year, the General Staff of the Russian armed forces claimed that Ukrainian military losses had topped 1 million. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last spoke of Ukrainian military losses in February, when he said in an interview that 45,100 troops had been killed and about 390,000 injured. The mutual claims of the other side's losses couldn't be independently verified. More here.
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