Ukraine on Thursday claimed that Russia’s death toll in the 10-month-long war had surpassed 100,000 deaths as fighting continues with no end in sight.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, an additional 660 Russian troops were killed Wednesday, bringing Russia’s total losses to 100,400.
Fox News Digital could not independently verify the alleged death toll, which according to Ukrainian records has more than doubled since August.
More than 200,000 people have reported to service under partial mobilization in Moscow on Oct. 4, 2022.
(Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Pentagon officials have not previously assessed death counts alone, though in early August, U.S. defense officials provided a rare assessment of Russian casualties and said they could be as high as 80,000.
Defense Department under-secretary for policy Colin Kahl, who made the announcement on Aug. 8, did not provide a breakdown of the number of killed and wounded. Kohl also did not verify figures provided by Kyiv at the time that said 42,340 Russian troops had been “liquidated.”
Reports have surfaced for months suggesting that Russian casualties could be significantly greater than Ukrainian losses, particularly after Russian President Vladimir Putin conscripted an estimated 300,000 men to join the fight in September – doubling the number of troops he originally put on Ukraine’s borders in the lead up to the invasion.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a Pion artillery system at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022.
(AP Photo/LIBKOS)
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Some reporting has found that these conscripts could see higher casualty rates due to a lack of sufficient training and inadequate armament.
On Nov. 9, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said that both Ukraine and Russia had “probably” seen “well over 100,000” soldiers killed and wounded in the war.
Milley again did not provide a breakdown of the casualty rate, though one month later on Dec. 2, Kyiv reported that it had seen as many as 13,000 soldiers killed.
Speaking at a Defense Ministry meeting in the capital Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu instructed the military chiefs to provide the conscripts with the necessary clothing, arms, and other equipment.
(Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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The U.K. defense ministry on Thursday assessed that Belarus – an ardent ally of Putin’s – is now training up Russian soldiers in a role reversal as an attempt to remedy the lack of Russian military trainers.
Putin has refused to withdraw his forces despite the significant loses, though he appeared to acknowledge this week for the first time since the war began that his deadly invasion is not going according to plan.
