More than 20,000 Russian troops have been killed since their country’s invasion of Ukraine seven weeks ago, while Ukrainian forces have lost less than a fifth of that amount, the government in Kyiv said recently.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said on Monday that roughly 20,600 Russian service members have been killed in action, while 167 Russian aircraft, 790 tanks, eight boats, and 67 anti-aircraft warfare systems have been destroyed, in addition to other military equipment. Comparatively, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that his side has lost roughly 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers, while another approximately 10,000 have been injured.
RUSSIAN TROOPS DEPORTED 500,000 UKRAINIANS, USED RED CROSS EMBLEM
The Washington Examiner could not independently confirm the estimate, and both sides in an armed conflict have their own incentives to inflate or deflate the numbers. Outside groups and governments also have a difficult time coming up with an exact tally of those who have died without having people at the location.
The United Nations reported on Monday that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed, while more than 2,800 have been wounded since the invasion began on Feb. 24. They believe “the actual figures are considerably higher,” but they do not have the ability to easily track deaths in areas where intense fighting is ongoing.
A senior NATO military official said last month that as many as 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded, taken prisoner, or are missing, adding that somewhere between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.
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Prior to the invasion, Russia amassed more than 160,000 forces along Ukraine’s border, and while they significantly outnumber Ukraine’s military, they have failed in their main objective of capturing the capital city of Kyiv. They anticipated toppling the government within a matter of days, but Ukrainian forces, combined with self-inflicted errors, have repelled them from the outskirts of the capital and forced them to refocus on another part of the country.
The Russian military, which is now focused on the Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine, has resorted to indiscriminate attacks against Ukrainian military and civilian targets. There are multiple investigations into allegations of war crimes committed by the Russian forces.
