The US president-elect earlier put the number at 600,000 soldiers and Ukrainian losses at 400,000
Incoming US President Donald Trump’s estimate of Russia’s losses in the Ukraine conflict is far off the mark and is based on Kiev’s interpretation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
Peskov was commenting on a post Trump made on his Truth Social platform earlier on Sunday, where he claimed that Moscow has lost some 600,000 servicemen in the conflict.
The day before, Trump had a meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Paris. While calling for an “immediate ceasefire and negotiations” between Moscow and Kiev and signaling that Ukraine was willing to “make a deal with Russia,” Trump also gave an estimate of Kiev’s losses, which he claimed stood at some 400,000 troops “and many more civilians.”
“As for the figures given about losses on both sides, it is obvious that they are presented in the Ukrainian interpretation and reflect the official position of Ukraine. The real figures of losses are completely different,” Peskov said in a press statement. He stressed that “Ukrainian losses are many times higher than the losses on the Russian side.”
The spokesman also warned that prolonging the conflict, which the US and other Western states are doing by aiding the Kiev regime, could “lead to the complete exhaustion of the Ukrainian army.”
Russia does not make public its losses in the conflict. President Vladimir Putin explained back in June that it is simply not done “as a rule,” while those who do announce such figures tend to intentionally “distort” the information. He noted at the time, however, that the ratio of losses on the two sides is approximately one Russian loss for every five Ukrainian losses.
In late November, The Economist reported that up to half a million Ukrainian troops had been killed or wounded in the conflict, based on leaked intelligence reports, official statements, and open sources.
On Sunday, Zelensky claimed in a post on X that since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, only some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. Back in February of this year, he insisted that Kiev had lost only 31,000 troops. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev’s army has lost 39,260 servicemen over the past four months alone.
In his statement, Peskov reiterated that Moscow is open to negotiations and is eager to end the conflict, but stressed that it could only be done if Russia’s conditions for a settlement were met. Moscow has repeatedly insisted that any settlement is only possible if Ukraine withdraws its forces from Russian territory, including the former Ukrainian regions, ensures the rights of its Russian-speaking population, and adheres to neutrality.
