Russia has lost over 2,000 troops over just the last 24 hours, Ukraine claims, as Moscow’s casualties in the almost three-year-long conflict mount.
In its latest daily update on social media (Monday, December 30), the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia lost a staggering 2,010 personnel in the past day.
According to the report, Russia has sustained 787,940 casualties in Ukraine since it began the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
So far, Putin’s forces have also lost 9,663 tanks, 20,003 armoured fighting vehicles, 32,551 vehicles and fuel tanks, 21,494 artillery systems, 1,256 multiple-launch rocket systems, 1,032 air defence systems, 369 aeroplanes, 329 helicopters, 21,069 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine, as reported by The Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine’s forces have previously said their tallies are “approximate” and clarified earlier this year that estimates of Russian losses include personnel who are injured as well as killed.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky issued a rare update on the country’s own casualty numbers, claiming that around 43,000 of its soldiers have been killed in the war so far.
The Ukrainian president said in a post on social media that 370,000 others had been injured but said the figure included troops who had been hurt on more than one occasion.
The war-time leader also claimed at the time that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the conflict began, with 550,000 wounded.
The last time Zelensky issued such an update was in February when he put Ukrainian fatalities at 31,000 since war broke out.
However, none of the figures can be verified, and both Kyiv and Moscow are thought to understate their losses.
The reported losses of both sides are closely guarded secrets and are notoriously difficult to establish.
Various estimates have been produced on how many have been killed and wounded on both sides throughout the conflict.
But though reliable statistics remain elusive, there is a consensus among analysts that Russia’s casualty figures are considerably higher due in no small part to the infamous “meat grinder” tactics the military employs.
