Number of Russian soldiers killed: Putin may have committed a serious misstep After a false start: Blue Origin flew into space for the first time

The war in Ukraine claims many lives, on the Russian side especially those of the soldiers. A trench war such as the one currently going on can hardly be won with financial resources alone. This makes it all the more important for Russian President Vladimir Putin to recruit more soldiers for the front. This undertaking is not easy, as there is a certain war-weariness in the country.

But the Kremlin ruler is communicating the opposite: the “flow of volunteers” is not stopping, as he recently claimed at his first major press conference since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. He did not mention that so many soldiers are dying on the front lines in Ukraine that the gaps can hardly be filled. This could be what he promised himself when he gave his information. He may have involuntarily revealed information that does not fit into Putin’s usual propaganda.

Putin may be making numbers a faux pas

The Kremlin does not like to talk about the precarious situation at the front. The war in Ukraine was actually supposed to end quickly, according to the original plan before the invasion in February 2022. The war has now been going on for almost 22 months – and for now there is no end in sight, the situation at the front is at an impasse. Even the increased attacks over the weekend are pointless.

The losses are enormous, that much is clear. Even if it is difficult to determine independent figures. Now the Russian president may have accidentally admitted that he has lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war in Ukraine. At least military analyst Ian Matveev is convinced of that. Accordingly, during his four-hour press conference on Russian television, Putin accidentally admitted a huge loss, Newsweek reports.

“According to Putin, Russia lost 360,000 people in the war,” Matveev wrote on Telegram. “244,000 mobilized. 486,000 volunteers. And there are only 617,000 people at the front.” He calls the Kremlin ruler’s information “amusing military math.” Because: The losses should therefore amount to 113,000 people. However, Putin left something out in his descriptions, which leads Matveyev to the following conclusion:

War in Ukraine: Determining Russia’s real losses is difficult

Despite Matveev’s calculation, it is not entirely clear whether Putin actually admitted that 363,000 soldiers had been lost. Officially, the Kremlin has only admitted that about 6,000 soldiers were killed so far, but that was still relative to the start of the war in Ukraine.

When it comes to Ukrainian troops, Russia does not hold back and speaks of “simply enormous” losses. The ratio is “about one in eight.” It is clear that these statements are exaggerated. Ultimately, the exact losses cannot be determined independently.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed in a Facebook post on Wednesday that Russia had lost 342,800 soldiers since the invasion began on February 24, 2022.

The British Army estimated in mid-November that 302,000 Russian soldiers had been lost. According to US intelligence, 315,000 Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed since the war began.

(dsc/watson.de)