Russia Smashes Past Grim Milestone After Day of Heavy Losses: Kyiv

Russia has lost more than 400,000 soldiers in Ukraine, according to Kyiv, as the two-year anniversary of Putin army’s invasion of its neighbour approaches.

Russian troop losses, including dead and wounded, stood at around 400,300 on Friday, February 16, according to the latest daily update published by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with 1,210 recorded in the previous 24 hours.

While it is impossible to ascertain the true figures, the casualty estimate marks another grim milestone for Putin’s military as it continues its assault on Ukraine.

A post by the Defense of Ukraine official Twitter account marked the passing of the threshold, referring to the front line as Russia’s “800-kilometer line to hell.”

Russia does not publish a tally of its own losses, and does not typically respond to Ukraine’s figures.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries and the Pentagon for comment via email.

In absence of official data, Newsweek and other publications rely on figures provided by Kyiv, as well as the Pentagon and think tanks, to gauge the true scale of Russian losses.

Western experts and governments broadly agree that more than 300,000 of Moscow’s troops had been killed or injured by the final months of 2023.

The Russian death toll reached about 60,000 according to a recent assessment by the Pentagon, with troops wounded or otherwise taken out of action adding up to an estimated 300,000 casualties, according to an anonymous U.S. official cited by The New York Times.

In December 2023, a declassified U.S. intelligence report cited by Reuters assessed that the Ukraine war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, representing nearly 90 percent of the personnel it had when the conflict began.

In late January 2024, British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey shared the U.K.’s estimates of Russian losses with British lawmakers.

“We estimate that approximately 350,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded since the start of the conflict,” he said.

Part of those losses has been verified by independent journalists. According to reporters from Mediazona and BBC News Russia, who were working with a team of volunteers, 43,460 dead Russian soldiers have been identified and named as of February 2.

Recent weeks have seen some of the heaviest battles and huge casualty rates reported on both sides as Russia has ramped up its efforts to take control of Avdiivka, a key Ukraine stronghold near Donetsk, in the east, in the run-up to President Vladimir Putin’s almost certain reelection in March.

Kyiv’s daily updates on Russian casualties have shown daily troop losses reach four figures on at least 34 occasions since mid-October, going over 1,300 per day on at least three.

The heavy casualties are bearing fruit for Putin’s army, with war monitors and even the Joe Biden administration admitting recently that Avdiivka will likely fall in coming days.

On Thursday, The White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Russia is close to claiming control of Avdiivka due to Ukraine’s lack of artillery shells. Reports emerging early on Friday indicated that Kyiv appears to have begun withdrawing at least some of its units from the nearly encircled town.