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Ukraine has claimed that Russia's military losses from deaths and injuries this year have exceeded the scale of its new troop recruitment.
According to local media outlet the Kyiv Independent on the 3rd (local time), the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that cumulative Russian military losses from the beginning of this year to the present stand at 238,650.
This figure includes both dead and wounded, surpassing the 221,000 new personnel recruited by the Russian military over the same period.
The Ukrainian military analyzes that Russian casualties have been increasing recently.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian losses last month reached 42,860, exceeding 40,000 and marking the highest monthly figure recorded so far this year.
The monthly average of Russian military losses this year has been around 34,000.
The statistics showing that Russian dead and injured have surpassed new recruitment figures serve as one of the grounds for Ukraine's claims that Russia is pushing for a large-scale mobilization decree and additional troop deployments from North Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an interview with British broadcaster Sky News on the 27th of last month that he received intelligence reports indicating Russia is preparing for a mobilization decree in late September or early October.
He also reiterated claims that Russia is prepared to accommodate 30,000 North Korean troops in the Voronezh region.
North Korea is known to have begun deploying troops to Russia in October 2024.
This came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Pyongyang in June of the same year to sign a mutual defense treaty.
According to a report by the U.S.-based North Korea-focused media outlet NK News, which cited Ukrainian intelligence reports, North Korea has sent approximately 20,000 troops, including combat and engineering units, to the Kursk region across four separate deployments, with around 14,000 stationed there as of early this year.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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