Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on August 4 that he approved new operations for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) after receiving a report from Oleksandr Poklad, the agency's acting head.
Zelensky said the Ministry of Defense had reported on Russian losses at the front for July, and that the SBU's Alpha unit ranked first among units for inflicting casualties. He said all Ukrainian units combined killed or seriously wounded 30,272 Russian soldiers with drones in July, a figure he said was confirmed by clear video evidence. Zelensky made the comments in a Telegram post.
Zelensky said the trend at the front remains unchanged, with Russia losing about 30,000 troops every month.
Earlier claims on Russian losses
Last week, Zelensky gave his own estimate of Russian battlefield losses in an interview with Fox News, in a war now lasting about four and a half years. He put Russian losses at 1.6 million, including about 700,000 killed.
According to Ukraine's General Staff, as of the morning of August 4, Russia's total army losses since February 24, 2022 exceeded 1,451,000, a figure covering both killed and wounded, with some individuals possibly counted more than once. Ukraine's General Staff does not keep a separate count of Russian soldiers killed.
Independent death toll estimates
The BBC's Russian Service, working with the outlet Mediazona, has identified the names and other details of nearly 235,000 killed Russian servicemen. The researchers say the real number could be significantly higher, with NATO estimating it at up to half a million.
