Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky warns Putin is planning ‘massive’ attack ahead of Sunday peace talks
Russian forces have suffered the heaviest battlefield losses the world has seen since the Second World War during its invasion of Ukraine, a new study shows.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies says the war has resulted in about 1.2 million Russian casualties and between 500,000 and 600,000 Ukrainian casualties. This includes both wounded and killed troops.
As many as 325,000 Russians have been killed since the war began nearly four years ago, the think tank reported, accounting for the majority of troops killed in the war.
“No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,” the CSIS said, despite advancing “remarkably slowly on the battlefield”.
The Kremlin dismissed the reports on Wednesday, saying the figures should not be seen as reliable.
Elsewhere, Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of an “act of terrorism” after a Russian attack on a Ukrainian passenger train killed at least five people.
“In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded in the same way – purely as an act of terrorism,” Zelensky said.
