Ukraine says it has killed 90,000 Russian troops and lost 13,000 of its own

Ukraine today said it has killed 90,000 Russian troops and lost 13,000 of their own soldiers since Russia’s invasion began in February.

The General staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said that Kyiv’s troops have killed around 90,090 Russian soldiers on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, a top adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky cited military chiefs as saying as many as 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have perished in the war in a rare comment on such figures and far below estimates of Ukrainian casualties from Western leaders.

The latest figures come after the most senior US general estimated last month that 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed or wounded during Vladimir Putin’s invasion. He estimated that 100,000 Russian troops had also died in the war. 

Ukrainian servicemen fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions on a frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on November 30

The Ukrainian general staff today said added that their soldiers had destroyed 2,916 of Russia’s tanks, as well as 5,883 armored fighting vehicles and 395 multiple launch rocket systems.

But the general staff said Russian forces kept up rocket attacks on infrastructure and airstrikes against Ukrainian troop positions along the contact line, adding that Moscow’s military push has focused on a dozen towns including Bakhmut and Avdiivka – key targets for Russia in the embattled east.

Late Thursday, Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to President Zelensky, relayed new figures about Ukrainian soldiers killed in battle, while noting that the number of injured troops was higher and civilian casualty counts were ‘significant.’

‘We have official figures from the general staff, we have official figures from the top command, and they amount to between 10,000 and 12,500-13,000 killed,’ Podolyak told Channel 24.  

The Ukrainian military has not confirmed such figures and it was a rare instance of a Ukrainian official providing such a count. 

Ukrainian servicemen ride a self-propelled howitzer on a frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on November 30

The last dates back to late August, when the head of the armed forces said that nearly 9,000 military personnel had been killed. 

In June, as Russian forces battled to take full control of the easternmost Lugansk region, Zelensky said Ukraine was losing ’60 to 100 soldiers per day, killed in action, and around 500 people wounded in action’.

On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive Commission, said 100,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed before her office corrected her comments – calling them inaccurate and saying that the figure referred to both killed and injured.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff said around 90,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war, which is much higher than estimates given by Moscow. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff said around 90,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war, which is much higher than estimates given by Moscow. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on December 1

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in September said only 5,937 Russian troops had been killed in the nearly seven months of fighting to that point.

Both sides are suspected of minimising their losses to avoid damaging the morale of their troops. 

Last month, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that as many as 40,000 Ukrainian civilians and ‘well over’ 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war so far. He added that it was the ‘same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.’

Those figures – which could not be independently confirmed – are the most precise to date from the US government.

The U.N. human rights office, in its latest weekly update published Monday, said it had recorded 6,655 civilians killed and 10,368 injured, but has acknowledged that its tally includes only casualties that it has confirmed and likely far understates the actual toll.

Ukraine has faced a blistering onslaught of Russian artillery fire and drone attacks since early October. 

The shelling has been especially intense in southern Kherson since Russian forces withdrew and Ukraine’s army reclaimed the southern city almost three weeks ago.

Local authorities said about two-thirds of the city of Kherson had electricity as of Thursday night, after new Russian strikes had cut power that had recently been restored.