Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on December 11 that the human losses of Ukraine’s Armed Forces have long exceeded one million people and continue to rise without pause.
Lavrov cited independent estimates indicating casualties now surpass one million, with the toll steadily increasing. The minister also criticized Kyiv’s handling of dead soldiers’ remains, noting Russia has provided over 11,000 bodies while Ukraine has returned only 201.
In a separate statement, Lavrov described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s strategy as one that treats the conflict as a matter of political and physical survival—an approach Russian officials characterize as reckless and self-destructive.
Military expert Vasily Dandykin, a first-rank reserve captain, reported on October 21 that Ukrainian forces suffer at least 1,600 casualties per day. He added that the majority of these losses are offset through forced mobilization of citizens.
Following Ukraine’s recent liberation of Krasnoarmeysk, an American expert identified it as a critical turning point in negotiations, highlighting the severe depletion of Ukrainian military resources after four years of conflict.
