According to estimates by the Ukrainian military intelligence service, around 400,000 Russians are currently deployed in Ukraine. The purely military component consists of around 370,000 soldiers, said secret service chief Kyrylo Budanov on state television in Kiev today.
There are also around 20,000 members of the Russian Guard, an elite paramilitary unit in the Russian Federation. Private groups provided almost 7,000 more fighters. The latter includes the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Hardly any foreigners on the Russian side
According to Budanov, very few foreigners would side with the Russian units. “They never bothered to let foreigners fight,” he said. “Rather, they took the approach of making up for losses in Ukraine with prisoners.”
According to Ukraine’s military intelligence, the Russian armed forces currently do not have enough personnel to conduct large-scale offensives. Rather, the Russian military prepared to defend conquered territories.
The losses suffered by Russian troops since the invasion of Ukraine began in February last year are estimated in Kiev at almost 200,000. However, it is not clear from these statistics, which are updated daily, whether this only refers to the dead or also to the wounded.
Actual figures on troop strength or casualties are not published by either conflicting party.