Russia Loses Nearly 6,000 Troops in One Week: Kyiv

Russia sustained 5,760 casualties in the past week, according to statistics published by Ukraine's military on Sunday, as Moscow's advances westward along the front lines come at a steep cost to its forces.

Russian forces in the war-torn country lost 1,160 troops in the past 24 hours, Ukraine's military said in the Sunday update. Moscow has lost a total of 430,740 fighters since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Kyiv said.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

If Ukraine's tally includes overall casualties, as well as Russian fighters who are missing or died in non-combat circumstances, it is a "perfectly plausible" tally, Nick Reynolds, a research fellow for land warfare at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Newsweek in February.

Earlier in March, the British government said Russia's monthly casualty count throughout February reached the highest point since Moscow's forces crossed into Ukraine for its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia has likely sustained more than 335,000 casualties in this time, London said. This "almost certainly reflects Russia's commitment to mass and attritional warfare," the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update.

The more than two years of war have also come at a heavy cost for Ukraine as well. Russia said on Sunday that Kyiv had lost just under 900 fighters in the past day, but did not provide an estimate of total Ukrainian casualties since February 2022.

It is not possible to independently verify any of the wartime casualty counts made by Kyiv and Moscow.

Ukraine said on Sunday that Russia had lost 11 tanks in the past 24 hours, bringing its count of Russian tank losses in the past week to 51. Since February 2022, Moscow has lost 6,790 tanks, according to Kyiv. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine had lost a combined total 15,509 tanks and other armored combat vehicles. This could not be verified by Newsweek.

Heavy losses on both sides come as Russia likely captured two villages in eastern Ukraine, according to the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War. Russian troops likely took control of Tonenke and Nevelske, villages to the west and southwest of the Moscow-controlled city of Avdiivka, late last week, the think tank said on Saturday.

Ukraine's General Staff said its forces had repelled 11 Russian attacks around Tonenke and Nevelske, as well as around the villages of Berdychi and Pervomaiske.

Russia's government said on Sunday that its fighters had destroyed Ukrainian positions around Tonenke, and fought off Ukrainian counterattacks around Berdychi and Pervomaiske.

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