The total number of military casualties – dead and wounded – in the Ukraine war is almost half a million in 18 months, according to Washington officials quoted by The New York Times. This is an estimate, since Ukraine does not report its casualties, while Russia stopped reporting its – no doubt understated – long ago.
According to sources cited by the newspaper, Russia's military casualties are close to 300,000. The number includes up to 120,000 dead and between 170,000 and 180,000 wounded soldiers. A calculation offered daily by the portal of the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda yesterday pointed to a total of 257,000 Russian casualties. The Russian figures dwarf the Ukrainian ones, which US officials put at about 70,000 dead and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.
The last public estimate of casualties from the Biden administration, notes the Times, occurred in November 2022, when General Mark Milley, chief of staff – and who maintains contact with his Ukrainian counterpart, General Zaluzhni – said that more than 100,000 soldiers on each side had been killed or wounded since the Russian invasion began in February. At the time, other members of the US administration said privately that the casualties were closer to 120,000 killed and wounded.
The reason for the total to be closer to 500,000 is believed to be intensifying fighting in the east, particularly the Battle of Bakhmut, the longest of the war, which reportedly claimed hundreds or thousands of lives since it began. start on August 1, 2022 and has not yet finished. The ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive would also be taking a heavy toll, according to military analysts.
