Russia lost more than 1,300 troops in a single day, Kyiv's military said in an update on Friday, marking one of Russia's deadliest days since it invaded Ukraine.
As Kyiv pushes on with a counteroffensive to reclaim its occupied territory, Moscow's forces lost 1,380 military personnel in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of Russian casualties since February 2022 to 292,060, according to figures released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on October 20.
Newsweek couldn't independently verify the figures. Estimates of casualty numbers vary, with Kyiv's figures usually exceeding those of its Western allies. Russia rarely releases information on troop losses, but in September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 troops had been killed in the war.
Newsweek has contact the Russian defense ministry for comment via email.
Russia has also lost 5,047 tanks, with 120 destroyed in the last 24 hours, 9,557 armored fighting vehicles, of which 120 were destroyed in a single day. A total of 29 Russian artillery systems were also destroyed in the past day, bringing total losses to 7,012, according to the update.
Other Russian losses include 9,370 vehicles and fuel tanks, 822 multiple launch rocket systems, 548 air defense systems, 985 pieces of special equipment, 1,535 cruise missiles, 320 aircraft, 324 helicopters, 5,326 drones, 20 ships and boats, and one submarine, according to Kyiv.
Ukrainian and Russian casualties are continuing to rise amid Kyiv's counteroffensive, which began in early June. Heavy clashes have been reported as Moscow attempts to seize the town of Avdiivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which has been the target of Russian aggression since 2014, when Putin illegally annexed the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
Moscow's forces, beginning on October 10, mounted their biggest offensive in months in an attempt to capture Avdiivka, pouring in thousands of troops, tanks and armored vehicles.
On October 11, the head of the local military administration in Avdiivka, Vitaliy Barabash, said on national television that battles around Avdiivka "do not abate" and that "two dozen missiles" struck the region, resulting in multiple casualties.
Radu Hossu, a political strategist who posts about the war in Ukraine on X, formerly known as Twitter, said in a summary of the offensive in Avdiivka last week that hundreds of Russian infantrymen are being "pulverized" by Ukrainian artillery.
"It is absolutely incredible and almost unimaginable how the Russians put zero value on their troops, attacking totally disorganized and senselessly in an attempt to encircle the fortress town on the edge of Donetsk," wrote Hossu.
The Institute for the Study of War think tank said on Thursday that Moscow had made a "marginal confirmed advance" in the direction of Avdiivka and that Kyiv's forces conducted limited counterattacks near the town and "reportedly advanced."
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Update 10/20/23, 5:05 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
