Russia Rejects US Think-Tank Report on Massive Ukraine War Casualties
The Kremlin has firmly dismissed a recent report from a Washington-based think-tank that claims Russia has suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian officials stated that such reports should not be considered reliable sources of information.
Alarming Projections of Escalating Casualties
The comprehensive report from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) warned that the total number of soldiers killed, injured, or missing on both sides of the conflict could potentially reach 2 million by the coming spring season. According to the analysis, Russia has already suffered the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any war since the conclusion of World War II.
This significant report emerged less than one month before the fourth anniversary of Moscow's military onslaught against Ukraine, highlighting the prolonged and devastating nature of the ongoing conflict. The think-tank's findings have sparked international concern about the human cost of the war and its potential trajectory in the coming months.
Recent Civilian Casualties in Ukrainian Cities
In related developments, Ukrainian officials reported on Wednesday that two people were killed on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian strikes targeted an apartment block in the capital region. Additionally, at least nine people were injured in separate attacks across multiple Ukrainian locations.
The attacks affected the southern port city of Odesa, the central industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, and the front-line Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine. These incidents underscore the continuing violence affecting civilian populations across Ukraine despite diplomatic efforts and international condemnation.
The conflicting narratives between Russian dismissals of casualty reports and the documented attacks on Ukrainian cities highlight the ongoing information warfare accompanying the physical conflict. As the war approaches its fourth year, independent verification of casualty figures remains challenging amid competing claims from both sides and their international supporters.
The CSIS report represents one of the most comprehensive attempts to quantify the human toll of the conflict, though its methodology and conclusions continue to be contested by Russian authorities who maintain their own casualty figures are significantly lower.
