| Резюме: | The number of Russian troops killed or wounded in Ukraine has topped 1 million, military officials in Kyiv said Thursday, describing the huge price that Moscow has paid for its 3-year-old invasion. The claim by the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces is in line with Western intelligence estimates. The U.K. Defense Ministry also said in a statement posted Thursday on X that Russia has suffered over 1 million casualties, including roughly 250,000 killed since it launched the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. On June 3, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said Russia likely would hit the mark of 1 million casualties this summer in what it called “a stunning and grisly milestone.” Russia last reported its military casualties early in the war when it acknowledged that about 6,000 soldiers had been killed. Earlier this year, the General Staff of the Russian armed forces claimed that Ukrainian military losses had topped 1 million. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last spoke of Ukrainian military losses in February, when he said in an interview that 45,100 troops had been killed and about 390,000 injured. The mutual claims of the other side’s losses couldn’t be independently verified. Russia launches more drone strikes The casualty estimates came as Russian forces pummeled Ukraine with drones and other weapons, killing three people and injuring scores of others despite international pressure to accept a ceasefire. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defenses destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed. Ukrainian police said two people were killed and six were injured in the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said. The authorities in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said 18 people, including four children, were injured by Russian drone attacks overnight. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones targeted residential districts, educational facilities, kindergartens and other civilian infrastructure. “Kharkiv is holding on. People are alive. And that is the most important thing,” Terekhov said. Russia has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday. Ukraine responded to the Russian attacks with drone raids. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 52 Ukrainian drones early Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks. Russia pushes its slow offensive in Ukraine’s east The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and northeastern parts of the more than 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line. While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs. On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed its troops captured two more villages in the Donetsk region, Oleksiivka and Petrivske. The Ukrainian military had no immediate comment on the Russian claim. The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. During their June […] |