Top US general: 100,000 killed, wounded on both sides of Russia’s Ukraine war
New York, Nov 10 (EFE).- Around 100,000 Russian soldiers and “probably” the same amount of Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded in the war in Ukraine, the United States’ top general has said.
Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley said in an address at the Economic Club of New York Wednesday that an estimated 40,000 civilians had also been killed in the conflict.
“You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded,” the general said in remarks quoted by CNN. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side,” he added The Ukrainian government claims that over 75,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far in the invasion, a figure that has not been independently verified nor confirmed by Russia.
Milley said Vladimir Putin had “lost a tremendous amount of military capability” and described Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a strategic error.
“I think the Russians have severely underestimated the Ukrainian people,” he added.
The top US general said the invasion and ensuing war had turned between 15-30 million Ukrainians into refugees.
He went on to say that peace negotiations should be embraced whenever possible.
“When there’s an opportunity to negotiate when peace can be achieved, seize it,” he said, adding, however, that the US would continue to arm Ukraine in the absence of peace talks, or if peace talks collapsed.
The general said there were indications that Russia was withdrawing its soldiers from the city of Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Russia since the invasion was launched in February.
The move was announced by Moscow on Wednesday.
He noted, however, that the pullback of some 20,000 to 30,000 troops to the eastern banks of the Dnieper river could take days or weeks.
Ukrainian authorities reacted to the news with an air of skepticism. EFE
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