Ukraine's 2023 Military Losses, According to Moscow

Ukraine's forces have lost 215,000 troops in 2023, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Moscow is tight-lipped about its losses in the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with no update since the 6,000 losses it revealed in September 2022. However, Shoigu gave Russia's estimates of Ukrainian casualties for 2023. Newsweek has as yet been unable to substantiate his figures.

"Groups of Russian troops are methodically reducing the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Shoigu said in a conference call with the leadership of Russia's military, according to state news agency Tass.

"Over the past year, enemy losses exceeded 215,000 people and 28,000 weapons," Shoigu added, without giving any further breakdown of the figures.

"We maintain the strategic initiative along the entire line of combat contact," Shoigu said, as he added that Russian forces will continue to "consistently achieve the goals of the special military operation." This is Moscow's term for the war.

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment. Earlier this month, the Armed Forces of Ukraine told Newsweek that it "does not comment on reports from Russian sources about the losses of Ukrainian troops."

Ukraine has not released casualty numbers since the start of the war, but Shoigu's statement comes as Russia faces a huge spike in losses, according to Ukrainian and Western estimates, driven by its offensive for Avdiivka in the Donetsk oblast.

On New Year's Day, Ukraine's figures of Russian casualties since the start of the war totalled 360,010, which pointed to high losses for 2023. On the same day 12 months earlier, the tally was 106,720, with the difference between the figures of 253,290, signaling average daily losses throughout 2023 of 694.

An accurate figure of casualties on either side is difficult to assess. A declassified U.S. intelligence report released in December and reported by The New York Times said that, since the start of the war, Russia had suffered 315,000 casualties. The previous month, U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said around 302,000 Russian personnel had been killed or wounded.

Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona and BBC Russian are counting Russian deaths using verified information from open sources. On December 29, the joint project said that Russian losses had reached 40,599, while acknowledging the real number is likely to be much higher.

"The year 2023 has become bloodier for the Russian army than 2022," the joint project said, with the numbers to increase in the coming weeks as data comes in regarding "the latest bloody assaults."

During his address, Shoigu also revealed other Russian military goals for 2024. These included maintaining the combat readiness of the nuclear triad at the highest level and equipping the army and navy with the most-modern weapons, including those based on artificial intelligence technologies.

Shoigu added that there would be an increase in drones, moves to increase the effectiveness of reconnaissance and counter-battery warfare. He also made financial pledges for the families of soldiers fighting in the war, including promises on payments, housing and medical care.

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