Ukraine’s general staff has claimed that over 14,000 Russian troops have been killed in the first three weeks of Moscow’s invasion of the country.
In an operational update posted to Facebook, Ukrainian officials said that approximately 14,400 Russian soldiers have been killed.
The update also said that Moscow has lost a huge amount of military equipment, including around 1,470 armoured troop carriers, 60 tanks and over 100 fighter jets and helicopters.
The BBC cannot independently verify the claim, though Western intelligence sources have suggested that around 7,000 troops have been killed and between 14,000 and 21,000 more have been injured.
It comes as Ukrainian forces claimed to have killed a fifth Russian general.
Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev would be the most senior Russian commander killed in the conflict so far, though the BBC cannot independently verify the claim, reported BBC.
Establishing the exact toll of the war in Ukraine has so far proved elusive, with the two sides producing widely differing estimates of military fatalities.
Russia acknowledged on March 2 that nearly 500 soldiers had been killed and 1,597 injured, but has offered no updates since. Meanwhile US intelligence this week put the figure at 7,000 – an estimate deemed “conservative” – while Ukraine claims 14,000 Russians have so far died.
The Homel region of Belarus may offer some clues about the death count.
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