Some 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, according to estimates released Friday by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
000 Russian military losses, including 150000dead”,”text”:”Russia’s military failure is already here. We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 deaths”}}”>Russia’s military failure is already here. We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 deaths.
declared Stéphane Séjourné in an interview published Friday in the European edition of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Why all this? This can be summed up in two words: for nothing.
This estimate of Russian losses is slightly lower than that presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last February, when he reported the death of 180,000 enemy soldiers.
Britain, for its part, estimated at the end of April that around 450,000 Russians had been killed or injured in Ukraine.
Moscow has not disclosed any information on the number of deaths and injuries among its troops since September 2022, when a report of nearly 6,000 people killed was communicated.
On the Ukrainian side, at the end of February, President Zelensky reported 31,000 soldiers dead. 000, nor 150000, as Putin and his circle of liars say. But each of these losses is a big loss for us”,”text”:”Not 300,000, not 150,000, as Putin and his circle of liars say. But each of these losses is a great loss for us”}}”>Not 300,000, not 150,000, as Putin and his circle of liars say. But each of these losses is a great loss for us
he added at a press conference.
According to numerous Western security sources, however, Ukrainian military losses are largely underestimated.
The Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, estimated Ukrainian losses at 444,000 during the same period, without specifying whether he was only talking about dead or dead and wounded. On Friday, he reported 111,000 Ukrainian losses, still without giving details, since the start of the year.
Ukraine in difficulty
The Ukrainian army has been on the defensive since the failure of its major counter-offensive last summer. Russia maintains the initiative in the face of an adversary which is struggling to recruit new soldiers and which is encountering slowness in Western aid.
The resumption of American military assistance, after the approval at the end of April of a $61 billion plan, should help kyiv consolidate its forces and try to stabilize the front, particularly in the east, in the areas of Tchassiv Iar and Avdiïvka.
Ukraine is all the more in difficulty because it lacks air defense means, which has allowed the Russians to bomb essential infrastructure, in particular the electricity network and railway lines.
Some military analysts believe Russia may be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.
