Battlefield casualties in the Ukraine war have surged to almost 500,000 killed and wounded, US officials say

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, May 15, 2023. Libkos/AP Photo

Combined casualties on the battlefield in Ukraine near 500,000, US officials said.

Russia is believed to have lost as many as 120,000 soldiers, compared with 70,000 Ukrainian deaths.

The figures mark a sharp rise in estimates from late last year, likely due to the bloody battle of Bakhmut.

The number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers killed or wounded has reached nearly 500,000 in total, US officials told The New York Times.

Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, of which as many as 120,000 are deaths and up to 180,000 are injuries, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian deaths are estimated to be 70,000, and up to 120,000 soldiers are believed to be wounded.

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Accurate figures are difficult to ascertain as Kyiv does not disclose official figures, and Russian deaths are believed to be severely undercounted, the officials noted.

The Times noted that there are almost three times as many Russians on the battlefield, and Russia has a larger population to continue to recruit and conscript soldiers.

The latest estimates mark a sharp rise in battlefield deaths, as in November, General Mark Milley, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said that each side had lost more than 100,000 troops.

What followed was the brutal and bloody battle of Bakhmut, which saw heavy losses on both sides and was frequently described as the "meat grinder" until Russian forces seized the city in May.

For many weeks, hundreds of troops were killed or injured every day in the battle, US officials told The Times.

A woman visits the grave of her relative, a Ukrainian serviceman, who was killed during Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the St. Nicholas cemetery near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine May 14, 2023. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Ukraine has since begun its long-anticipated counteroffensive to take back territory occupied by Russia, and its initial weeks saw thousands of troops being killed or wounded, officials said.

It was because Ukraine came up against dense Russian minefields and heavily fortified positions, the paper noted.

Ukraine has since shifted its tactics back to using artillery and long-range missiles to strike Russian forces and appears to be making slow progress.

The latest casualty estimates are based on "satellite imagery, communication intercepts, social media, and news media dispatches" and estimates vary even within the US government, The Times reported.

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