More than 500,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine, UK defense chief says

More than half a million Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, a senior British defense official said Friday.The dead are part of 1.5 million Russian casualties in Ukraine, Air Chief Marshall Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the UK’s Defense Staff, said.The UK figures roughly coincide with those published by the Ukrainian military.There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.Moscow’s bigger army is struggling to make headway on the battlefield.

Western officials and analysts say the Russian rate of advance has slowed significantly this year.Russia’s armed forces have also lost an “enormous” amount of military materiel, Knighton told reporters.That includes more than 10,000 armored and protected vehicles, close to 3,000 air defense and artillery systems, and over 370 aircraft and helicopters, Knighton said.He didn’t say what Ukraine’s losses were.Neither Moscow nor Kyiv give regular updates on their battlefield losses.Russian drones targeted roadside gas stations in Kyiv for a second straight day Friday, as Moscow broadened its air war in what Ukrainian officials say is an effort to rattle civilians.The attacks struck two Ukrnafta gas stations, killing two people and wounding six at one of them, the prosecutor’s office said.Russian strikes on urban gas stations have intensified in recent months, mostly in regions near the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine.

It is part of a campaign to disrupt civilian life and weaken morale that has also included attacks on food distribution hubs, sporadically leaving some supermarket shelves bare in the Ukrainian capital.“Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximize casualties, spread fear, and put pressure on Ukrainian society,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X late Thursday.Authorities have urged residents not to linge...