Nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war, British intelligence agency says

New intelligence shows that nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin launched his country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Anne Keast-Butler, the new head of the United Kingdom’s communications and cyber spy agency.

“As we stand by our support for Ukraine, Putin is returning to the battlefield, with new intelligence showing that nearly half a million Russian soldiers have been killed since the war began,” Keast-Butler said Thursday. Keast-Butler is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, one of Britain’s three major intelligence agencies.

The GCHQ figure is the highest on record for Russian military deaths from any government since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Russia and Ukraine have not released their data on the casualties of the wars.

“The figure of 500,000 is a higher figure than the UK Defense Intelligence Agency has previously quoted,” said Michael Clarke, former Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank. Clarke has been tracking the progress of the war. “But this should now be considered a legitimate measure given its source.”

He added that the Russian death toll “could be higher” because they “don’t pay much attention to the wounded.” He noted that “a large part of them are not Russians and almost all non-Russians are sent to the front” and said that this may be “another reason why fewer than usual survive wounded.”

The bad situation came on the heels of a a new warning from Russia to tell all foreigners – including, in particular, diplomats – to leave Kyiv before planned military strikes on military industrial targets in the Ukrainian capital. Russia warned of an imminent attack on Monday, with the Foreign Ministry calling for planned retaliation for the attack on a Ukrainian airliner in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region last week.

The US embassy in Kyiv remains open

Early on Thursday, the European Union’s chief foreign policy officer, Kaja Kallas, said that the US embassy in Kyiv was wrongly closed. Kallas was in Cyprus and answering a journalist’s question about the warning from Russia when he made this statement.

“So what they are doing now is really increasing terrorist attacks, because you can’t really explain in other ways, creating fear within the community. It didn’t work for four years, but I don’t think it will work now,” said Kallas, who is the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. “Also, what we heard yesterday in Ukraine is that all the ambassadors stayed except one, so that requires courage from those ambassadors. But yes, all the Europeans stayed, America left.”

The American embassy in Kyiv quickly corrected Kallas, writing on social media that the facility is open and that “there are no changes in our operations.”

“The reports are otherwise false,” the US ambassador wrote to X. “The State Department has no higher priority than the safety and security of the American people and regularly reviews the security posture of the Embassy in Kyiv. We reiterate our message that Americans should not travel to Ukraine for any reason because of the armed conflict.”

The embassy also attached a photo of Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jim Hines, both Democrats from Connecticut, and US Ambassador to Ukraine Julie S. Davis.

The congressmen also met with the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy posted a photo of the meeting on social media Wednesday night, and reiterated his own ask for more support against the Russian ballistic missile threat.

“We have an important need for antiballistic missiles due to the ongoing attacks of Russia. I sent a letter to the White House and the US Congress explaining Ukraine’s needs for such missiles. And today, I personally gave this letter to the congressmen. We count on timely support,” he wrote.

Ukraine, Russia’s trade is hitting as “warfare” shifts

Russia carried out bombings in Kyiv and surrounding regions on Sunday. The attack involved nearly 100 missiles – including Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile – and 600 drones.

A notice on Monday telling diplomats and other outsiders to leave Kyiv warned that “planned and sustained strikes” would target “decision-making centers and command posts” in the city.

On Thursday night, Ukrainian forces attacked a major Russian oil refinery in the southern Black Sea port of Tuapse, which has been targeted many times in the past. Kyiv said the refinery processes about 12 million tons of oil each year, including fuel for Russia’s military.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have launched airstrikes in parts of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said, including a Kinzhal missile and about 150 drones, adding that air defense intercepted 138 drones. At least two people have died in Ukraine in the past day, including a father who died after a Russian strike in the residential area of ​​Kherson, east of Odessa.

Analysts say that Ukraine seems to be regaining momentum on the battlefield. In a May 25 report, the US-based Institute for the Study of War think tank “the character of the war is changing in favor of the Ukrainian forces, at least for now.”