Washington: More than 80 thousand Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. According to the news agency AP, US officials based at the Pentagon estimated on Monday that 80,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in Ukraine so far in the war that began in February.
Under Secretary of Defense, Colin Kahl has said that there have been 70 or 80,000 Russian casualties in less than six months, according to the report. Kahl also said that three or four thousand armored vehicles of the Russian army were also destroyed during this period. At the same time, it is feared that the number of precision-guided missiles available to Russia, including sea-launched cruise missiles, is also expected to be greatly reduced after a large number of shots fired at Ukrainian targets.
Referring to the Russian president, he further told reporters that the Russians have not achieved even one of Vladimir Putin’s stated objectives at the start of the war. So this loss is huge. According to the official, Ukraine has also suffered heavy losses in this war, but he did not give any figures.
The reduction in long-range and precision-guided missile strikes is also an indication of the depleting missiles in Russia’s stockpile. Kahl believes that Russia wants to protect its reserves from other threats as well.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine on Monday accused each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claimed that Ukrainian shelling started the fire and forced workers to cut production from the two reactors, while Ukraine accused Russian troops of storing weapons there. Nuclear experts have warned that further shelling at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station, which Russia captured at the start of the war, is fraught with danger.
