Russian Losses in Ukraine Exceed Soviet Losses in Afghanistan

Up to 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine last month, with as many as 40,000 dead, wounded, taken prisoner or missing, according to NATO estimates.

A senior NATO official told the Associated Press the alliance came up with those figures based on information from Ukrainian officials, information gleaned from Russia and intelligence gathered from open sources.

The Wall Street Journal reports that NATO analysts reached their total figure using statistical averages from past conflicts that for every casualty roughly three soldiers are wounded.

Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, NATO estimates that approximately 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, dealing a major blow to the Kremlin, which sought to swiftly dispatch the Ukrainian government in a few days.

U.S. officials have not given public estimates of Russian or Ukrainian casualties, arguing such information is constantly changing.

Russia has released limited information on its casualties, with March 2 marking the last time Moscow acknowledged nearly 500 soldiers had been killed and almost 1,600 wounded.

Ukraine claims to have killed six Russian generals, however, the Kremlin has only recognized one dead.

According to the AP, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over the course of 10 years in Afghanistan.

Despite sending more than 150,000 troops into Ukraine, Putin has made minimal progress with his ground offensive in recent weeks.

Russian troops have been forced to destroy cities at a distance using bombs and heavy shelling, as the Ukrainian fighters have slowed or halted their advance with guerrilla tactics and Western weapons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that thousands of his people had been killed in the conflict, including at least 121 children.

On March 12, Zelenskyy said that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed in action.

According to WSJ, Russia began its invasion with roughly 190,000 troops and has since brought in reinforcements from Chechnya, Syria and other locations.

Ukrainian forces have continued to defend several key cities, including the capital of Kyiv, and have started to move to retake territory the Russians had recently gained. 

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