Half a million Russians killed in Ukraine war - UK military intelligence

Half a million Russian soldiers have been killed in Vladimir Putin’s full-scale war against Ukraine, according to British military intelligence.

Western officials, however, said they saw no indication that the heavy toll of the war – in terms of Russian lives lost as well as a growing impact on the Russian economy – had changed the president's goal of seeking to force Ukraine under Moscow's sphere of influence.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, the head of the UK armed forces, said the total number of casualties suffered by Russia, including those wounded, is thought to be 1.5 million troops since February 2022.

The vast majority of the losses were incurred since January 2023 - in return for Russia gaining a mere 2% of Ukrainian territory, he said.

"I think these numbers illustrate clearly the senseless and futile waste of human life for such little progress, and against such an illegitimate aim of President Putin,” the chief of the defence staff said in a prepared statement to journalists.

Referring to the half a million Russian personnel who are dead, he said: "So that means that's half a million photographs hanging on the walls in devastated, darkened homes about Russia. That means half a million families will never see their father, their son, their brother, or husband again."