In a grim development, Ukraine reported the deaths of 990 Russian soldiers in a single day of the ongoing conflict. This news arrives ahead of a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The meeting is expected to address the possibility of ending the war in Ukraine, with a potential ceasefire announcement from Putin. The war, which began on February 24, 2022, has resulted in 1,067,100 Russian casualties to date.
Russia has also lost considerable military hardware, including 11,104 tanks, 23,130 armored fighting vehicles, 31,458 artillery pieces, 1,466 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,207 air defense systems, 421 aircraft, 40 helicopters, 51,043 UAVs, 3,558 cruise missiles, and 28 ships.
President Zelensky stated that Russia is suffering three times more casualties than Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, on August 12, stated that Russia was losing about 1,000 soldiers each day, which is approximately three times more than Ukrainian losses. Zelensky gave the example that on August 11, Russia lost 531 soldiers killed, 428 wounded, and 9 captured. Conversely, Ukraine’s losses were 340 soldiers, with 18 killed, 243 wounded, and 79 missing.
Trump and Putin are set to meet in Alaska on August 15. Their last encounter was at the G-20 summit held in Japan in 2019. The upcoming meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, is aimed at discussing the end of the Ukraine war. Previously, Trump’s mediation efforts facilitated three meetings between Russia and Ukraine, however, these talks were unsuccessful.
In the ongoing conflict, Russia has suffered approximately twice the number of casualties as Ukraine. The current state of the war favors Russia. The Kremlin might leverage the Alaska summit to redirect attention from peace negotiations with Ukraine, focusing instead on the relationship between Russia and the US. This could be a strategy to encourage the Trump administration to consider economic agreements with Moscow.