About 150,000 Russian soldiers have died since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, according to French estimates. This was stated by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne in an interview with the Russian newspaper "Novaya Gazeta".
"Russia's military failure is already a fact. "We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 dead," Sejourne said. "And why is all this? The answer is in two words: for nothing," he added as quoted by BTA.
The French figures differed little from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in February that Russia had lost 180,000 troops. Britain estimates that around 450,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Ukraine.
Moscow does not give any information about the casualties in its ranks. The Ukrainian army, which also does not report such data, is on the defensive after the failure of its major counteroffensive last summer, AFP notes. Russia has taken the initiative, facing an enemy that is struggling to recruit new soldiers and faces the problem of delayed military aid from the West, the agency added. The renewal of US military aid, following the approval in late April of a $61 billion plan for Ukraine, is expected to allow Kiev to consolidate its forces and try to stabilize the situation on the front, especially around the eastern towns of Chasov Yar and Avdeyevka, notes AFP.