Statistics from several recent surveys by independent media – relayed by online radio Voice of America – demonstrate that the Russian military has suffered significant losses since launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
At the end of June, the independent Russian media Important Stories found that “More than 71,000 Russian men died during the war” for more than two years. Based on figures compiled by Russia’s national statistics service, the report estimates that at least 45,000 Russian soldiers died in Ukraine in 2023 alone.
“In early June, an investigation by independent Russian media outlet Mediazona and the BBC’s Russian-language service confirmed the names of 64,000 Russian soldiers killed since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.”noted Voice of America. “Journalists who investigated suggested the death toll was probably at least twice as high.”.
On the second anniversary of the invasion, Mediazona et Medusaanother independent Russian media outlet, published a joint study which they say reveals that around 83,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine.
Last August, the New York Times cited unnamed U.S. officials as saying that up to 120,000 Russian troops had been killed and between 170,000 and 180,000 wounded, compared with nearly 70,000 Ukrainian troops killed and about 120,000 wounded.
The Kremlin does not publish official statistics on military losses.
Orban in Kiev
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will travel to kyiv on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Financial Timesciting sources familiar with the matter.
This is the Hungarian leader’s first trip to Ukraine since the start of the war with Russia in February 2022.
No comment was immediately available from the offices of Viktor Orban and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The visit comes as Budapest, which has maintained close ties with Moscow and refuses to supply arms to kyiv, took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Monday.
Orban and Zelensky spoke last week on the sidelines of a European summit in Brussels where a security pact was signed between the EU and Ukraine.
Ukraine inflicts heavy losses on Moscow
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, June saw kyiv’s forces destroy 1,415 Russian artillery systems, the highest monthly total since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The previous “record” was the previous month with a total of 1,160.
Also in June, the Ukrainian military reportedly destroyed 59 Russian air defense systems, the second-highest monthly total in more than two years of conflict.
Added to these figures are the deaths of 35,030 Russian soldiers in June, making it the second deadliest month for Kremlin troops.
The publication of these statistics, which could not be verified, is part of the Ukrainian communication strategy aimed at undermining the morale of Moscow’s troops.
