Pentagon: Russia lost 700,000 people since February 2022 and spent over $ 200 bn on war
In a landmark speech, Pentagon chief reveals the unprecedented human and financial cost of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on 7 December that Russia has suffered at least 700,000 casualties, including killed and wounded, since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Lloyd also said that Russia expenditured of over $200 billion on the war effort against Ukraine.
Speaking at the Ronald Reagan National Security Forum in California, Austin said that the Russian losses “exceeded the total losses Moscow experienced in all conflicts since World War II combined.”
The Ukrainian military estimated Moscow’s losses at over 750,000 as of November 2024, including killed and wounded. Russia has not publicly disclosed its casualties, while slamming Donald Trump’s claim Russia has lost around 600,000 troops in the Ukraine war.
The defense secretary emphasized the importance of supporting Ukraine and highlighted several key international achievements in countering Russia’s invasion, pointing to the Ramstein contact group. The international group resulted in over $57 billion in direct security assistance for Ukraine.
Austin also noted significant strategic outcomes, including preventing nuclear confrontation with Russia and strengthening NATO’s eastern flank. The alliance has increased its annual defense spending by nearly $80 billion and become more unified in response to the war.
The speech coincided with a closed-door meeting in Paris between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President-elect Donald Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron in France. According to Zelenskyy’s spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov, the trilateral meeting lasted 35 minutes.
Zelenskyy described the meeting with Trump as “good” and “productive,” saying that Trump remains “decisively minded.” The Ukrainian president expressed belief that “peace through strength is possible.”
During the meeting in France, Trump said on social media that Russia had suffered 600,000 casualties, while Ukraine lost 400,000 injured and wounded.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially disclosed that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since Russian invasion in February 2022.
Read also:
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- Ukraine urges Syria’s new leadership to sever ties with Moscow as Assad’s regime collapses
- War will end when Putin admits Ukraine invasion failure, says Polish FM
- Pentagon unveils $ 988 mn Ukraine military aid as Biden speeds assistance before Trump transition
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