Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Kremlin admits 'significant' Russian losses in Ukraine war

Kremlin admits 'significant' Russian losses in Ukraine war

Russia has admitted suffering "significant losses of troops" in Ukraine, as the invasion enters its 44th day.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told British channel Sky News the casualties were "a huge tragedy for us".

He said he hoped Moscow would reach its war goals "in the coming days".

Peskov's comments followed Russia's expulsion from the United Nations Human Rights council on Wednesday.

Some 93 of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly voted in favour of the diplomatic rebuke, which followed allegations of mass human rights abuses by Russian troops in the formerly occupied town of Bucha in northern Ukraine. Moscow announced its resignation from the council in response.

The body expressed its "grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis", and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of further atrocities in Borodyanka, a town near the capital Kyiv.

Peskov denied any suggestion that Russian troops were responsible for executions in the town of Bucha and told the broadcaster that "we're living in days of fakes and lies". He baselessly claimed that images of civilians murdered in the town were staged.

However, his admission that Russia has suffered significant casualties is striking. On 25 March, Russia's Ministry of Defence said 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed in combat. Ukraine puts the Russian deaths at almost 19,000.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine's estimates of Russian losses can be independently verified - and analysts have cautioned that Russia may be downplaying its casualty rate, while Ukraine could be inflating it to boost morale. Western leaders believe that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.

Peskov, who has served as Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson since 2000, also claimed that Russia is searching for ways to end the war.

"Our military are doing their best to bring an end to that operation," he said. "And we do hope that in coming days, in the foreseeable future, this operation will reach its goals or will finish it by the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegation."

Russia has pulled troops away from Kyiv and shifted most of the focus of its war to eastern Ukraine - but the fighting shows no signs of ending.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister has urged Ukrainians living in the east to flee while they still can, and the intensity of the shelling there is already hampering evacuations.

On Thursday, Western nations imposed further sanctions on the Russian economy in retaliation for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The US Senate voted unanimously to remove Moscow's "most favoured nation" trade status, opening the door to damaging new tariffs and import controls on products like platinum, chemicals, iron and steel.

And the EU agreed to gradually impose a ban on imports of Russian coal, worth around $4bn (£3.3bn) a year to the Russian economy, over the next 120 days.

Speaking to Russia's parliament, the state Duma, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin admitted that the cumulative impact of extensive sanctions means the country is facing its worst economic outlook in decades.

"No doubt, the current situation could be called the most difficult in three decades for Russia," he said. "Such sanctions were not used even in the darkest times of the Cold War."

But he claimed that the impact of Western sanctions has been limited, telling MPs that the "financial system, the lifeblood of the entire economy, has held up".

After collapsing to a historic low at the end of February, Russia's currency the rouble has rebounded to its pre-war level.

Ukraine's President Zelensky has renewed his calls for fresh supplies of heavy weapons from the West, saying his forces need "weapons which will give it the means to win on the battlefield and that will be the strongest possible sanction against Russia".
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
×