According to the Russian news agency TASS, more than 2,200 Ukrainian soldiers died in the ruins of the key city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, which had been under siege for days.
TASS quotes from the report by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to President Vladimir Putin: “The military operation around Lysychansk has ended successfully. The Ukrainian army suffered 5,469 casualties, of which 2,218 were killed.”
In addition, in this battle alone, the Russian forces destroyed 196 battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine, as well as 166 artillery pieces and twelve fighter jets.
Ukraine, on the other hand, counters in this “battle of numbers” with the total losses of the Russian army since the invasion began on February 24: According to Kyiv, more than 34,000 Russian soldiers have already been killed.
In one of his many emotional social media speeches, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the Ukrainian army would “come back” to the areas now occupied by Russian troops. Meanwhile, the army of the Russian Federation already holds more than 22% of the Ukrainian territory.
