Washington/Moscow: The United States claimed that Russia had lost over a hundred thousand soldiers in the last five months in the ongoing war in Ukraine. In the five months from December 2022 to April 2023, more than 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed, and nearly 80,000 were seriously injured, said John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesperson. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed the figures provided by US officials.  

More than 14 months have passed since the Russia-Ukraine conflict. During this period, both Russia and Ukraine suffered considerable military losses. Ukraine and the Western countries and agencies have consistently reported large numbers of military losses for Russia. In September last year, Russia announced that nearly 6,000 soldiers were killed in the conflict.  

However, Ukraine and the Western countries have consistently avoided providing information about Ukraine’s losses. At the same time, they alleged that Russia’s information was unreliable. The Ukrainian government has taken the stance where they said the losses suffered by the armed forces are a sensitive issue in terms of national security, and we will reveal the information only after the conflict ends. Against this background, the information on Russian casualties given by senior US officials is noteworthy.  

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby claimed Russia’s offensive in Bakhmut, and the Donbas region has failed. While making this claim, he also said Russia had to pay a heavy price in the Bakhmut conflict. “In the campaign in Donbas, Russia’s weapons stockpile and military personnel had suffered heavy damages. Nearly 100,000 soldiers have been lost, and more than 20 thousand have been killed in the conflict that started in December. About 80 thousand soldiers have been injured. About 50 per cent of soldiers who were killed belonged to the Wagner Group,” Kirby claimed.  

The National Security Council spokesperson also accused Russia of pushing thousands of people into the Ukraine conflict without providing proper training, weapons and leadership. Kirby said at this time that he was making this claim based on the information received from US intelligence agencies. Last November, US General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also made claims about Russian casualties. General Milley had said that Russia had lost nearly one hundred thousand soldiers in the first eight months after the conflict started. 

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