Ukraine has claimed to have inflicted one million combat casualties on Russian forces since the large-scale invasion by Moscow in February 2022, a significant, if unverified, milestone in a war that is redefining Europe’s political and security landscape.
Providing its daily claimed combat figures on 12 June, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence stated that, with Russia suffering 1,140 combat casualties over the previous 24 hours, Russian losses in its more than three-year-old war had reached over one million military personnel.
Go deeper with GlobalData
While the figure is disputed, Western officials have previously broadly agreed with Kyiv’s claims, indicative of the levels of combat still being seen across the frontline in Ukraine, where the daily losses for Russia reach over 1,000 on a regular basis.
Ukraine’s own losses are a closely held state secret, although it is thought combat casualties, those killed and injured, is well in excess of 100,000 and likely far more.
Additional claims by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence for the 24 hours preceding 12 June include the destruction of six Russian tanks, bringing the claimed total to nearly 11,000 since 2022, and 47 artillery systems, with Kyiv now claiming to have knocked out in excess of 29,000 such platforms.
Perhaps most concerning is that the Ukraine-Russia war is beginning to take on a back seat in Western affairs, as national strife, migration, unrest, economic downturns, and the ongoing war in Gaza, dominating the front pages in European and North American capitals.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataSince the last meeting between US envoy Steven Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in April, the fourth such instance since the start of the year, little has been heard from Washington about prospective peace deals between Kyiv and Moscow.
In the near-two months since, it is likely that tens of thousands of combatants on both sides have been killed or injured in fighting.
Mobile air defence increasingly critical
Particularly notable among the 12 June combat claims by Kyiv were 138 tactical-level Russian UAVs intercepted, likely small to medium sized drones used for strike operations or surveillance.
Drone warfare has supplanted all other forms of lethal strike on Ukraine’s battlefield, with the vast majority of combat losses now caused by the hundreds of suicide drones loitering over the frontlines.
A recent attack by Ukraine into Russia territory, an audacious strike on Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers, saw the use of drones hosted inside commercial trucks to swarm defences.
Similarly, Russia’s use of loitering munition, including the formidable Shahed-136 design obtained from Iran, has expanded in recent months.
Speaking during the Ukraine – Southeast Europe Summit on 11 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said efforts were ongoing to develop countermeasures to drone threats, with an apparent emphasis on mobility.
“As soon as the Russians realize where our air defence systems are located, they target them. That’s why we constantly change the routes of our air defence systems – just as the Russians constantly change the routes and number of their attack drones,” Zelenskyy noted.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia has increased the number of UAVs used in attacks on Ukraine to nearly 500 per day, typically targeting electricity distribution substations, nuclear and thermal power generation, and gas infrastructure – including gas storage facilities.
