Russian troop losses hit record high in May, Ukraine claims

Russian troop losses in May amounted to 38,940, the highest monthly figure since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on June 1.

The previous record of 29,970 was set in December of last year when Russian forces lost huge numbers of service people during the battle for the town of Avdiivka in eastern Donetsk Oblast.

The Defense Ministry classifies losses as including those who are killed, wounded, missing, or captured.

Although Ukraine's figures have not been independently verified, they are in line with Western estimates of Russian casualties.

Last month, Ukraine said Russia's total losses had passed the grim milestone of 500,000.

Leo Docherty, British minister of state for the Armed Forces, said in late April the U.K estimates Russian losses to be over 450,000.

“We estimate that approximately 450,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded, and tens of thousands more have already deserted since the start of the conflict," Docherty said in parliament.

A U.S. estimate reported on Dec. 12 put the total at 315,000. On the same day, the Ukrainian figure was 340,650.

A May 31 report from UK Defense Intelligence said reported losses averaged 1,200 a day during May, the "highest reported since the start of the war."

Ukraine's Defense Ministry also claimed a record number of 1,160 Russian artillery systems destroyed in May.

According to a graph posted by the ministry on X, the previous highest number of destroyed Russian artillery pieces — 976 — was recorded in March.

“It's another record. 1,160 Russian artillery systems were destroyed in May. It's the biggest number of artillery losses in two years of the war,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that the Ukrainian forces continue to “transform Russian weapons into scrap metal.”

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The Kyiv IndependentChris York