Russia has lost nearly as many soldiers in Ukraine as US has in Iraq/Afghanistan since 2001
A U.S. official
told CBS News on Wednesday the U.S. is estimating between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops have been killed, adding, however, that it is difficult to count war casualties at this time in Ukraine.
The number of Russian troops killed could possibly be as low as 3,500, according to the official, although the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had estimated earlier this week that as many as 4,000 Russian troops had been killed, Military.com
reported.
Even with the lower estimates of Russian troops killed, the total would be higher than all the U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan alone, which the Pentagon estimates to be 2,461 troops.
The Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University estimates 7,057 U.S. troops died from 2001 to 2019 during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The count excludes those killed in 2020 and 2021.
CNN reported Thursday 7,075 U.S. soldiers were killed during the 20 years the U.S. was at war in the two countries.
Ukraine has been able to gather support with at least 20 countries sending them weapons and 20,000 foreign nationals volunteering to join the military and fight the Russian invasion.