Nearly 580,000 Russians fighting against Ukraine – intelligence

Ukrainian intelligence has revealed that the ground component of Russian forces involved in combat against Ukraine, including troops stationed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, numbers nearly 580,000 personnel.

Source: Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "Nearly 580,000 is the ground component directly engaged in combat."

Details: He clarified that this figure includes Russian military personnel stationed in Kursk Oblast.

Additionally, Skibitskyi noted that the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) has deployed nearly 35,000 troops in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Background:

• In June, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that nearly 700,000 Russian servicemen were fighting in Ukraine. In December 2023, he stated that 617,000 soldiers had been involved in the war.
• At that time, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) highlighted Putin's remarks indicating that Russian forces lose approximately 20,000 personnel monthly in Ukraine. This number roughly matches or is slightly lower than the number of new soldiers Russia generates each month.

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