Russia lost 4,140 troops in Ukraine in the past week, according to a Monday update from the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The news comes as Kyiv also reported multiple advances on the battleground over the weekend, informs Newseek.
The General Staff said Russia has suffered a total of 254,380 troop losses since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That number includes 530 casualties suffered over the past day. Russia passed the 250,000 troop-loss mark in Kyiv’s tally on August 7 when it hit 250,240 losses.
Newsweek has not been able to independently verify Ukraine’s figures, and other estimates tend to be more conservative than Kyiv’s. The Kremlin does not frequently comment on its own estimates of troop casualties, and when it does, experts have said its numbers are not accurate. Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has reportedly made advances over the weekend in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said if such advances were secured, it would prove «tactically significant» for Ukraine.
In a Sunday assessment, ISW wrote about reports of Ukrainian advances into the village of Urozhaine in Donetsk and around the Zaporizhzhia Oblast town of Robotyne. ISW said that while Russian military bloggers claimed its country’s forces had withdrawn from Urozhaine, the think tank had «not observed confirmation that Russian forces have completely withdrawn» from the village and some forces could still remain there.
Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers have written about how Urozhaine has played a key role in Russia’s supply lines, and Ukraine regaining the village could have a large impact on Moscow’s forces. The ISW also noted that Russian bloggers have said that Ukrainian gains in Urozhaine could further contribute to the Russian military’s already low morale.
Despite the reports of victory in Urozhaine by bloggers and social media users, Kyiv has been more cautious in its descriptions of advances in the village.
Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform on Monday reported that Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv’s forces had «some success» around Urozhaine, but she said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces were continuing attacks in other regions.
«Overall, the number of shelling attacks in the south and in the east over the past week came to about 10,000 attacks, that is, it is a continuous burst of fire,» she said, according to Ukrinform. «In addition, the dominant heights are mined. Therefore, our Armed Forces are facing very serious obstacles on their path.»
Even with Russia’s resistance, Maliar said Ukraine’s military had recently managed to liberate three square kilometers (1.15 square miles) near Bakhmut in addition to the 15 square miles gained in the area since late May.