Thousands of missing soldiers for six months, Ukraine releases statistics

Zaluzhny's statement, reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, provides an assessment of the number of losses since the beginning of the war almost six months ago.

In June, Ukraine's presidential adviser Olexey Arestovych had said 10,000 soldiers had died since the beginning of the conflict.

Russia has not updated its official death toll since March 25th, when authorities said 1,351 soldiers and officers had died.

The BBC stresses that it cannot verify either of the figures from independent sources, but the latest analysis based on open sources suggests that since 19 August there have been 5,701 confirmed deaths of Russian soldiers and officers.

However, the number of confirmed deaths in which the BBC has access could contain at least 40 to 60% less names than those actually buried in Russia, as the analysis relied on confirmed death reports. /abcnews. al