The British Defense Ministry estimates that 60,000 Russian soldiers and mercenaries have been killed in Ukraine.
The ministry also estimates that more than 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, echoing a similar estimate made by U.S. officials earlier this month.
Most Russian casualties resulted from artillery attacks and insufficient first aid for injured troops, British officials said.
- In September, Russia announced the mobilization of 300,000 troops.
- Many of these troops, who were largely undertrained and underequipped, were sent on suicide missions to attack fortified Ukrainian positions without armored support.
- The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization whose leader is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has recruited tens of thousands of prisoners from Russian jails to fight in Ukraine in exchange for amnesty after six months of service.
- Wagner forces have played a leading role in the monthslong attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in the occupied Donbas region.
- The U.K. estimates that half of the deployed prisoners have been killed or wounded.
