Nearly Half a Million Killed and Wounded Since the Start of the War in Ukraine

(Patria) - The number of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers killed or wounded since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 is close to 500,000, the New York Times reported yesterday, citing unnamed American officials.

They warned that it is difficult to estimate the exact number of casualties because it is believed that Moscow is downplaying the number of its killed and wounded, while Kyiv does not publish official data, the New York daily adds.

The number of Russian casualties is close to 300,000, including as many as 120,000 killed soldiers and between 170,000 and 180,000 wounded, writes the New York Times.

The number of killed Ukrainians is close to 70,000, and between 100,000 and 120,000 soldiers have been wounded, the report adds, as reported by VOA.

The New York Times also writes that American officials stated that the number of casualties has increased after Ukraine launched a counteroffensive this summer.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the New York Times report, stated that only the General Staff can release such data.

- We have adopted a model where only the General Staff has the right to release data on the wounded, disabled, people who have lost limbs, missing persons, and of course, the number of people who have died in this war - Podolyak said yesterday on a show hosted by journalist Yulia Latynina on her YouTube channel.