The heavy artillery system is among the new arsenal of modern weaponry provided to Ukraine by multiple countries
The heavy artillery system is among the new arsenal of modern weaponry provided to Ukraine by multiple countries AFP / ARIS MESSINIS

KEY POINTS

  • Russia lost 500 military personnel in Ukraine between Monday and Tuesday
  • A total of 95,260 Russian combat losses have been recorded in Russia's invasion
  • Russia could have around 120,000 casualties by the time spring arrives

About 500 Russian military personnel were killed in Ukraine between Monday and Tuesday, pushing Russia's total number of casualties in its invasion beyond 95,000, data provided by the Ukrainian military showed.

Russia has suffered 95,260 combat losses among its personnel since the conflict began in late February, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its most recent casualty report released Tuesday.

A report from the previous day stated that Russia had lost 94,760 military personnel up to that point.

Russia's last official death toll from the war, which was provided by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in September, claimed that 5,937 Russian soldiers in total had died in Ukraine at the time.

In comparison, Ukraine has lost between 10,000 and 13,000 of its troops, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense suggested that the true number of Russian casualties may be higher than what Russia and Ukraine are reporting.

More than 100,000 Russians "are either dead, injured or have deserted," U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace claimed during a war update before the British parliament's lower house Monday.

Russia could have around 120,000 casualties by the time spring arrives in the coming months, the Polish think tank Warsaw Institute said in a statement.

"[Russian President Vladimir Putin's] three-day war, or 'special operation,' turns out to have been a disaster for him and his army," Wallace said.

Russia still refers to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation."

Putin initially intended for the campaign to result in a rapid victory, Western officials believed.

However, the Russian head of state recently acknowledged that the invasion was taking longer than expected to finish.

"Of course, it could be a lengthy process," Putin said on Dec. 7.

Russia has resorted to launching waves of missile and drone attacks against civilian targets and energy infrastructure in Ukraine amid its reported losses and battlefield setbacks.

In response to the strikes, Ukrainian President Zelensky accused Russia of trying "to achieve with terror and murder what it wasn't able to achieve for nine months."

The "extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly," is considered a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the 10th National Congress of Judges, in Moscow
Reuters