In a recent report from Kyiv, it was revealed that Russian casualties reached an unprecedented high in May, marking the most significant daily loss since the initiation of Moscow's invasion in February 2022.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that Russian forces in Ukraine suffered a loss of 38,940 fighters in the previous month. This figure represents the "highest monthly number since the beginning of the full-scale invasion," as described by Ukraine.
Throughout the past month, Ukraine's military has consistently reported daily Russian casualties exceeding 1,000. In a notable instance in mid-May, Ukrainian forces reported that Moscow suffered a loss of 1,740 troops in a single day. This figure represents the highest number of daily Russian casualties since the commencement of the all-out war.
While Western analysis often estimates Russia's total casualties to be lower than Ukraine's figures, the British Defense Ministry stated on Friday that Moscow has likely suffered over 500,000 casualties since early 2022. The UK government also reported that Russia's average daily casualties in May exceeded 1,200, marking the highest daily average of the war to date.
The British Defense Ministry attributed these significant losses to Russia's continued aggressive efforts along the front line on Ukrainian positions and the lack of proper training among Russian personnel. "As a result, Russia employs small-scale but costly wave attacks" in an attempt to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses, the Ministry added.
In May, Russia initiated an offensive on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, introducing a new front to the war. However, Ukrainian officials reported that the conflict in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine either continued or intensified following the onset of cross-border attacks on Kharkiv.
In an operational update issued at 1:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, Ukraine's military reported heavy attacks from Russia to the west and northwest of the Russian-controlled Donetsk City. Russia has been striving to advance west of the city, including claiming the former Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivkanorthwest of Donetsk Cityin February. The Ukrainian armed forces also reported an "increased" activity further north toward Kharkiv.
In a separate update posted on social media on Saturday morning, Kyiv reported that Russia sustained 1,130 casualties in the previous 24 hours. This figure brings Ukraine's total reported Russian losses to 508,780.
Moscow has not acknowledged its own losses since September 2022, when former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported that just under 6,000 Russian fighters had been killed. However, the BBC's Russian service and Russian independent outlet Mediazona reported last month that they could confirm the deaths of at least 54,185 Russian soldiers from February 2022 up to May 22, 2024.
Ukraine has also suffered significant losses and rarely provides updates on the toll of defending against Russian assaults. In late February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 31,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed in two years of war. Russia has claimed that Ukraine's death toll is much higher, alleging that Kyiv lost 215,000 soldiers in 2023 alone.
Russia does not provide a running tally of reported Ukrainian losses, but stated on Saturday that Kyiv had lost 1,845 fighters in the past day. This count could not be independently verified.
In a separate statement on Saturday, Ukraine reported that Russian artillery losses reached their highest point of the war last month, with 1,160 systems destroyed.
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