Paris France:

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukraine has been at war for two years, killing tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

The exact number of casualties cannot be determined, and neither side has disclosed information about losses to avoid damaging morale among the troops and the public at large.

at least 10,000 civilians

The U.N. human rights office said in mid-January that 10,382 civilians had been confirmed dead and 19,659 injured in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, but the actual number was likely higher.

The report stated that civilian casualties in December 2023 and January 2024 increased significantly compared with the previous months, reversing the trend of decreasing civilian casualties at the beginning of the year.

Nearly 8,000 of those deaths occurred on territory controlled by Ukraine, and more than 2,000 in areas occupied by Russia.

On January 31, an official said that Ukraine’s national police had recorded nearly 10,000 civilian deaths, 7,000 missing, and 11,000 injured in areas under its control.

But Ukrainian authorities say thousands more civilians were killed during the siege of the southern port city of Mariupol before it was seized by Russia in the early months of the war.

In February 2023, a city hall official told Ukrainian television that at least 25,000 civilians were buried in mass graves there.

According to the Russian news website 7×7, at least 138 civilians were killed on the Russian border.

“Hundreds of thousands” soldiers

Due to sensitivity, both militaries kept the casualty figures secret.

The latest official data dates back to mid-2022, so should be treated with caution.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in September 2022 that 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed.

According to Kiev, 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed as of August 2022.

All estimates since then have come from foreign intelligence services.

In August 2023, the New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying that Ukraine’s military losses were 70,000 dead and 100,000 to 120,000 injured.

The report said an estimated 120,000 people were killed and 170,000 to 180,000 injured on the Russian side.

On January 29, British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said in a written reply to a parliamentary question that Russian casualties exceeded 350,000.

On February 8, Ukrainian forces estimated that they had caused more than 392,000 casualties among Russian soldiers since the invasion.

Kyiv did not specify whether the death toll included losses among pro-Russian separatists and Wagner paramilitary group mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, or only losses among Russian troops.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)