Defense Minister: Ukraine’s military casualties lower than Turkey earthquake death toll

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on April 16 that the total of Ukraine’s military casualties number is “lower than the number killed by the earthquake in Turkey.”

“We have casualties, of course, because we are at war. But they are critically smaller than the Russian ones,” Reznikov told Spanish newspaper La Razon, adding Russia is using its soldiers as “cannon fodder.”

“It is a meat-grinder tactic. They (Russians) don't care. Russia loses 500 men daily in Bakhmut alone. Dead and wounded,” he said.

The death toll in Turkey from two powerful earthquakes that hit the country on Feb. 6 has risen to 50,500, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced on April 14.

Leaked U.S. intelligence documents suggest that up to 354,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or injured since late February 2022, when Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The leaked papers allege that between 15,500-17,500 Ukrainian troops were killed and 109,000-113,500 wounded in action, while Russia is believed to have 35,500-43,000 troops killed and 154,000-180,000 wounded, according to Reuters.

Neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military have provided clear information on the number of their own side's casualties.

Russia only confirmed around 6,000 of its troops being killed since February 2022, while according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Russia has lost 182,070 troops.

This Week in Ukraine Ep. 1 – Why does Ukraine keep up costly defense of Bakhmut?

“This Week in Ukraine” is a video podcast hosted by Kyiv Independent’s reporter Anastasiia Lapatina. Every week, Anastasiia sits down with her newsroom colleagues to discuss Ukraine’s most pressing issues. Episode #1 is dedicated to Ukraine’s military strategy in Bakhmut, an embattled city in Donet…

Kyiv IndependentAnastasiia Lapatina