650,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in the war against Ukraine, Zelensky says

Russia has lost 650,000 troops, including dead and wounded, in the war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Times of India published on October 28.

Since the start of the war, more than 690,000 Russian soldiers have been put out of action large-scale invasion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition to the injured and dead, this figure also includes those captured.

Estonian Intelligence Service estimated that Russia could lose up to 40,000 personnel in October.

“Russia itself has killed many Russians. Many mobilized Russian soldiers were killed by the Russian army itself because they were afraid to attack, die from bullets or be injured. So they retreated and were then killed by their army,” Zelensky said Times of India.

“This is their law of war,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky added that Russia also does not pick up its dead soldiers from the battlefield and leave their bodies to rot on the ground.

Speaking about the situation on the front, the president said the Russian army is advancing in eastern Ukraine using human attack waves, “throwing its soldiers into a meat grinder.”

In recent months, Russian forces have carried out an attack grinding progress in Eastern Ukraine, making territorial gains heavy losses.

Russian troops set their sights on Pokrovsk and Khasiv Yar, among others, with the latter on higher ground. Conquer Avdiivka in February. The higher ground could give Russian forces a key strategic advantage in attacks on other cities in the region Donetsk Oblast.