Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost more than 1,500 military officers– including around 160 generals and colonels – since the invasion of Ukraine nine months ago.
The number of casualties, according to a report in The Independent, was arrived at on the basis of the findings on the basis of independent investigations.
Russia has been hiding the scale of military losses in Ukraine and the most recent official figure of 5,397 casualties till September by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is far lower than the Western estimates.
Earlier this month, top US General Mark Milley said that more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine.
“You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded,” Milley said in remarks at the Economic Club of New York. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.”
The figures provided by Milley — which could not be independently confirmed — are the most precise to date from the United States government more than eight months into the war.
The US estimate of Russian losses appears similar to the numbers given by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which claimed that 87,310 Russian troops have been killed.
However, Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine, which has left their energy grid teetering on the brink of collapse and disrupted power and water supplies to millions in the war-torn country.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russia will soon launch a series of new missile strikes on his country, warning his defence forces and citizens to prepare for the attack. He gave the ominous caution in his Sunday evening address.
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