Ukraine has clarified that it’s daily updates on Russia’s battlefield losses include both dead and wounded.
On Wednesday, the General Staff of Ukraine’s tally of Russian losses since the start of the war reached 412,610. Kyiv’s estimates have spiked considerably over the last few weeks, in particular after Moscow’s fierce fight for the city of Avdiivka, which they captured on February 17.
Death tolls and casualty counts are notoriously difficult to confirm as experts suggest that both sides inflate the figures of their adversaries.
The Russian-language Ukrainian Telegram channel Politics of the Country (Strana Politiki) noted that until August 23, 2023, Kyiv used the word “liquidated” to describe personnel losses, interpreted by many outlets in Ukraine as describing the number of dead.
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After August 23, the word “liquidated” was not used and casualties were described as “approximate losses of the enemy,” although it was still not specified how many were wounded or dead.
Andriy Kovalyov, spokesman for Ukraine’s General Staff clarified the situation on Tuesday.
“Every day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine publishes the total combat losses of the enemy. It should be emphasized that these are total losses,” he said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
So Kovalyov’s comments confirm that the latest casualty figure of 412,610 refers to dead and injured, rather than just dead.
The daily figures from Ukraine’s General Staff, if interpreted only as fatalities, were at odds with the toll revealed by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on February 25, when he said that 180,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war so far.
Zelensky revealed Ukrainian losses (around 31,000) for the first time, to counter “what Putin and his circle of liars” were claiming about Ukrainian casualties, each of which is “significant…for us.” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in late 2023 that Kyiv had sustained 383,000 casualties.
Zelensky said that, “180,000 Russians died. I don’t know how many of them are missing, but I know that up to 500,000 are among the wounded.”
The number Zelensky revealed differs from other estimates, with The New York Times reporting in August 2023 that around 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, and around 120,000 wounded, citing U.S. officials.
BBC Russian, in a joint-project with the Mediazona website, has established the names of more than 45,000 Russian personnel who have died, drawing on publicly available information, although it estimates the total number to be much higher.
The British defense ministry said this month around 350,000 Russian troops had been killed or injured.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.