Russia has seen around 900,000 troop casualties since unleashing its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, a senior NATO official said on Thursday.
Up to 250,000 soldiers have been killed in the conflict which started on February 24, 2022, according to NATO.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian onslaught with broad support from Western allies.
After Kiev’s forces were able to recapture some territory following Russia’s initial advance, both sides have been locked in a war of attrition for months, with the Russians making incremental gains.
According to NATO’s assessment, the “situation on the battlefield remains very difficult.”
“While we don’t expect a major breakdown of Ukraine’s defensive lines in the next couple of months, even if Moscow continues to advance, we do believe that Russia will continue to increase the pressure along the front lines and on Ukraine in general,” the official said on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
Noting recent territorial gains by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, including in Torezk and near Pokrovsk, the official said Russia continues its strategy of “high losses in exchange for slow gains.”
In February of this year alone, Russia suffered 35,140 casualties, according to the official.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he views last year’s surprise advance into enemy territory as a success despite a general retreat of his troops from Russia’s Kursk region,
Kiev decided to turn the tables on Moscow by launching its own limited invasion in August.
“It is absolutely fair to move the war to where it came from,” Zelensky said in a video address.
Zelensky recorded the video in the Ukrainian border region of Sumy, from where Ukrainian forces advanced into Russian territory.
He said he had discussed with commanders of the units still fighting in Kursk what equipment and support they needed.
“We are working on protecting our positions,” Zelensky said.
Only a few square kilometres of the Russian Kursk region remain under Ukrainian control.
