Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Monica Charsley & Estel Farell-Roig

Vladimir Putin 'has now lost more soldiers in Ukraine war than US did in Vietnam'

Russia has now lost more soldiers in Ukraine that the US did in the Vietnam war, it has been reported.

About 65,000 of Putin 's soldiers have died so far according to estimates from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The latest estimate from Kyiv was shared on a Facebook post which included a tally of Russia's supposed casualties.

As of today (October 16) "about 65,000 (+300) persons liquidated", said the statement.

The sum is reported to be around 10,000 more than officials from Ukraine estimated last month on September 21, reports the Star.

If the unverified figure is accurate, it means that Russia's death count after eight months would be beyond what the US's was during their battle in Vietnam.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via a video link in Saint Petersburg on October 10 (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The shocking figure would equate to what was more than a decade of fighting, reports Newsweek.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund listed that, 58,281 Americans died while battling in the war.

However, it is hard to know the exact number for sure as the Kremlin rarely addresses the figures in the public domain.

Putin's country has before questioned Ukraine's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu about their supposed figures.

Russian newly-mobilised reservists train at a shooting range in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, October 10 (REUTERS)

It comes after it was alleged last month that 5,937 soldiers had been pronounced dead since Russia declared war on Ukraine.

It has been reported that the US has made few observations on the number of casualties in Zelensky's country.

At the start of August, the US approximated that 70,000 to 80,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded during the bloodshed.

Professor Michael Clarke, from the Department of War Studies at King's College London, disputed Moscow and Kyiv's estimations.

Black smoke rises over the Ukrainian capital as a result of Russian missile attacks earlier this month (Zuma Press/PA Images)

He explained: "[The] Russian '5,000+' number is completely unrealistic. The Ukrainian number is probably too high, but may not be too far off the mark when all the evidence gets sifted."

He believed around 30,000 to 40,000 people had been killed under the Russian flag in Ukraine.

The visiting professor stated that many of Russia's wounded die "because they get no proper treatment and tend to be left to die on the battlefield unless the Ukrainians get to them early."

It has been reported that the amount of Ukrainian troops that are dead also remains unclear.

According to the head of Ukraine's armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, almost 9,000 military personnel had died by August 22.

Furthermore, the UN has confirmed 6,221 civilian deaths in Ukraine as of October 9.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.