100,000 Russian troops killed, injured in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (Agencies): More than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv’s forces likely suffering similar casualties, top US General Mark Milley said. “You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded,” Milley said in remarks at the Economic Club of New York. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.” The figures provided by Milley — which could not be independently confirmed — are the most precise to date from the United States government more than eight months into the war.
Milley also said there is a chance for talks on ending the war, and that military victory may not be possible for either Russia or Ukraine. “There has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably in the true sense of the word maybe not achievable through military means, and therefore you need to turn to other means,” Milley said. “There’s… an opportunity here, a window of opportunity for negotiation.”Milley’s comments came after Russia ordered its troops to withdraw from the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine — a major blow to Moscow’s military campaign.
But officials in Kyiv reacted with caution, saying the Russian army was unlikely to leave the strategic city without a fight, while US President Joe Biden suggested the retreat was evidence Moscow has “real problems” on the battlefield. The United States and its NATO allies have stopped short of direct intervention in Ukraine, but are arming, advising and enabling its military to defend Kyiv against Russia’s invading armies.
Milley said the conflict so far had turned anywhere from 15 million to 30 million Ukrainians into refugees, and killed probably 40,000 Ukrainian civilians. “You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded. Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side. A lot of human suffering,” Milley said. Despite the high casualty numbers, US officials say that Moscow has been unable to achieve its objectives in Ukraine and have raised questions about how long Russia will be able to sustain an invasion that has also decimated much of its mechanized ground forces and sapped artillery stockpiles.