Russia has suffered the greatest troop losses since the Second World War during its invasion of Ukraine, claimed the British intelligence service.
The Ministry of Defense said in his last intelligence update that up to 250,000 Russian soldiers were killed since Vladimir Putin started his brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The MOD added that, despite the fact that Russia has a total of 900,000 victims since invading, “Putin and Russian military leadership [is] Most likely give priority to their military objectives above the lives of Russian soldiers. '
The ministry added: 'They are almost certainly prepared to tolerate high victims continuously, as long as this has no negative influence on the public or elite support for the war, and that losses can be replaced.
The mod also accused the Kremlin of selective recruitment of soldiers from poorer regions of the country.
'Putin and Russian leadership are very likely to attach considerably less value to the lives of Russian citizens of ethnic minorities from impoverished regions, with Russian recruitment efforts that were therefore disproportionately directed in these areas.
“Slavic Russians from urban centers such as Moscow and St. Petersburg have contributed disproportionately less service personnel than their poorer, ethnic minority crimes.”
It comes when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zensky today told the EU leaders that Moscow had continued strikes on the Ukraine energy system, despite the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with the American counterpart Donald Trump to stop attacks.
Russian soldiers patrol an area in Sudzha, the Kursk region in Russia, on March 13 after it was taken over by Russian troops
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zensky told EU leaders today that Moscow had continued strikes on the Ukraine energy system, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin who agreed with the American counterpart Donald Trump to stop attacks
“Last night another Russian strike met our energy infrastructure,” said Zensky (photo)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with governor of the Kostroma Sergei Sitnikov region in Moscow, Russia, March 20, 2025
'Last night another Russian strike met our energy infrastructure. We in Ukraine are confronted every day and night, you know. And despite the words of Putin about the fact that they are ready to stop the attacks – nothing has changed, “Zensky told an EU top per video call.
Next week it is expected to be crucial for the invasion, and its potential end, because Russian and American officials will have conversations on Monday about Ukraine in Saudi Aarabia, said Putin's assistant Yuri Ushakov.
Donald Trump spoke this week with both the Russian Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine's Volodymyr Zensky and the US will also have conversations with KYIV in the coming days.
“This consultation will take place on Monday, March 24 in Riyad,” Uhakov said in comments published by the Kremlin on Thursday.
“They will be attended from the Russian side by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Senate Committee for International Affairs, and Sergei Beseda, adviser to the head of the FSB security service.”
Ushakov said he had confirmed this after conversations with the American national security adviser Mike Waltz. Both agreed to send 'expert groups' for the conversations, he added.
The delegations must discuss 'initiatives' what Putin and Trump talked about with regard to the Black Sea.
A Russian soldier is preparing to lift a flag on top of a house in Staraya Sorochina, a village in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region in Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops
Russian soldiers ride a quad bike (ATV) in the village of Kazachya Loknya, which was previously held by Ukrainian troops and was recently restored by the Russian armed forces, in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region on March 18, 2025
A hunter of the Chechen Akhmat -Bataljon runs within a damaged Orthodox Church in the village of Kazachya Loknya, which was previously held by Ukrainian troops and was recently recaptured by the forces of Russia, in the Sudzha -District of the Kursk region on March 18, 2025
Civil servants work on the site of destruction and fire after the Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine on March 19, 2025
A hunter of the Chechen Akhmat -Bataljon runs past destroyed houses in the village of Kazachya Loknya, which was previously held by Ukrainian troops and was recently restored by the Russian forces, in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region on March 18, 2025
The Russian FSB admitted in 2014 that Beseda was in Kiev during a bloody action against the Ukrainian capital in the middle of the country's pro-EU revolution.
He has been under Western sanctions since 2014.
Karasin is a career diplomat.
Kyiv said that the US wants to have conversations with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia in the 'coming days'.
It is not clear whether they will take place on the same day or whether the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet.
