Russian MoD Offers Update on Casualties From Ukraine Conflict

The Russian Defense Ministry provided an update on the casualties sustained by the country's armed forces during the ongoing military offensive in Ukraine.

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“Unfortunately, during the special military operation there have been losses among our comrades-in-arms. To date, 1,351 servicemen have died and 3,825 have been injured,” the deputy head of the Russian General Staff, Colonel General Sergey Rudskoy told a media briefing. 

The official report does not detail figures on soldiers who have potentially gone missing in action or been taken prisoner amid the conflict. On the other hand, Rudskoy affirmed that the Ukrainian side has sustained heavy casualties (around 30,000) over the past month. According to Russian military estimates, around 14,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed, and a further 16,000 have been injured.

Ukraine’s military has sustained major losses in hardware, with nearly 1,600 tanks and other armored vehicles destroyed, he alleged, adding that the Russian offensive has largely destroyed Kiev’s air and anti-aircraft forces, while its navy has effectively ceased to exist.

The official casualty figures provided by the Russian military differ drastically from the estimates from the Ukrainian side. According to the latest claims by Kiev, around 16,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict, with hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces destroyed.

Moscow launched a special military operation into Ukraine in late February, after a seven-year standoff over Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The Minsk Protocol, brokered by Germany and France, was designed to regularize the status of the regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia is now demanding that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country and that it refrains from joining NATO, as well as the recognition of Crimea as part of the Russian territory and the ceasing of attacks on the Donbass region.