Putin ‘has lost nearly 160 generals and colonels among 1,500 officers’ since Russia invaded Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has lost more than 1,500 military officers – including nearly 160 generals and colonels – since Russia invaded Ukraine nine months ago, according to an open-source tally which echoes the findings of other independent investigations.

The Kremlin has been guarded in its public admissions regarding the scale of millitary losses in Ukraine, with the most recent official figure of 5,397 – given in September by defence minister Sergei Shoigu – sitting significantly lower than Western estimates.

In stark contrast, the United States’ top general Mark Milley suggested earlier this month, as the Russians retreated from Kherson, that Moscow and Kyiv’s forces had each sustained upwards of 100,000 casualties since the war began.