Putin's contradictory claims raise questions about war data
Independent Russian channel Astra detected a blunder by dictator Vladimir Putin, who, during the Valdai Club, stated that Ukrainian armed forces "lost 30,000 people" in the Kursk region. - More people than in all of 2023 - he said. The problem is that a year earlier, Putin said something completely different.
The losses incurred in the war are closely guarded by both the Kremlin and Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky only once disclosed the losses Ukraine has suffered. In February 2024, he said that 31,000 Ukrainian military personnel had died. He refused to disclose the number of wounded.
On Friday, Putin, speaking at the Valdai Club, stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more people in the Kursk region than throughout 2023 - 30,000 people. Independent channel Astra recalls that a year earlier, the dictator said that Ukraine had lost 90,000 people.
- Within three months of combat operations, the losses of the Kyiv regime are more significant than the entire last year — over 30,000. They lost fewer tanks — now about 200, and last year they lost probably 240 - Putin said.
Putin manipulates numbers
Astra recalls that on 5 October 2023, at the same Valdai forum, Putin announced that the Ukrainian losses since the beginning of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which started in the summer, were 90,000 people and 557 tanks.
These inconsistencies may suggest data manipulation for propaganda purposes. Differences in reported numbers may result from the desire to present the situation in a manner favourable to the Russian narrative. Astra also notes discrepancies that may be evidence of Kremlin manipulations.
Kyiv: Russia lost 20,000 soldiers in Kursk
On 6 November, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that during the Ukrainian military operations in the Kursk region in Russia, Russian forces lost over 20,000 soldiers.
More than 7,900 soldiers were killed, over 12,200 were wounded, and 717 were captured - he mentioned. During this period, 1,101 units of enemy weapons and military equipment were destroyed, including 54 tanks, 276 armoured fighting vehicles, 107 guns and mortars, five rocket artillery systems, and 659 vehicles.
