Wladimir Putin stated that the number of Ukrainian soldiers Those who surrender have seen a rise recently. At a meeting with key members of the Duma, the Russian president spoke about the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, focusing on the military led by the generals Volodymyr Zelensky. “By the way, I would like to inform you: recently the number of soldiers serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces has increased significantly they give up” said the Kremlin chief, adding that negotiations on a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine were underway.
Putin's words about the Ukrainian military
since the outbreak War in Ukraine It is difficult to quantify everything, from civilians killed to military deaths, from vehicles destroyed to missiles fired. And that applies to both sides. The reason is easy to say: each side tends to spread numbers that can help their cause. However, even independent analysts find it difficult to agree to a settlement because of the difficulty of personally confirming or denying the facts on the battlefield.
Putin, as already mentioned, spoke about the Ukrainian soldiers and stated that a large number of them would surrender. Impossible to verify whether the Russian President's statements are realistic or, on the contrary, they are phrases hurled at public opinion and intended to weaken the morale of Kiev men and revive that of the Russian military.
The number of Russian soldiers in Ukraine
Putin had also previously made some comments about his soldiers. The Russian President had reported the presence of 617 thousand Russian soldiers on the territory of Kiev, which triggered the retort Andrey YusovRepresentatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR), as the Kremlin chief indicated exaggerated numbers. According to Yusov, if the enemy presents falsified data, he does so deliberately, especially in order to put information pressure on Ukraine in order to further scare someone abroad.
“This is not the only lie that came out of the Russian president's mouth yesterday. He lied practically every time he opened his mouth. But yesterday the Russian dictator publicly confessed to a series of war crimes and said he wanted to continue them,” he said. Yusov said. For the Gur representative, more than 450,000 people They are fighting Ukraine, and “that is not the number expressed by a man who looks like Putin.” “Unless he counted up all the liquidated invaders who were not taken away from the battlefield. This way a different number could have come out. But in general this is propaganda,” Yusov added.
The US intelligence report
A report fromintelligence American The study published last Tuesday found that Russia would lose approx 315,000 soldiers – between dead and seriously injured – since the beginning of the war. According to this analysis, too, Russia's losses would be incredibly higher than those reported by the Kremlin in November – when the Russian Defense Ministry reported the deaths of 5,937 soldiers – and would far exceed Ukraine's losses.
In August, a U.S. intelligence official told the New York Times that Moscow's losses were nearing 300,000, with about 120,000 dead and 170,000 to 180,000 injured. During the same period, Ukrainian forces faced 70,000 deaths and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.