Russian defence minister Shoigu: 5,937 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced in an interview with Russian state TV that 5,937 Russian soldiers were killed during the war in Ukraine.

“I have to mention our losses. Our losses as of today are 5,937 people killed,” Shoigu said.

According to him, nearly 90% of wounded soldiers have returned to service due to the efforts of medical professionals.

“I must focus on the fact that today, we are at war not just with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army, but with the collective West,” Shoigu said.

The Russian defence chief claims that 61,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war and 49,000 were wounded. According to his estimations, this is half of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Shoigu also expanded on the partial mobilisation announced in Russia. In total, 300,000 servicemen in reserve will be drafted. This number will include “those who have already served, who have a military occupational specialty that is currently required in the Armed Forces and those who have combat experience”. Students and conscripts who are already serving now will not be mobilised.

“We’re not trying to launch a wide-sweeping conveyor belt to get everyone quick, no. Coincidentally, we planned to hold mobilisation training at the same time,” the defence minister said.

The last time the Russian Defence Ministry announced the death toll in the war with Ukraine on 25 March. Back then, the ministry stated that 1,351 servicemen had been killed and 3,825 had been injured.

Meanwhile, BBC News Russian and Mediazona, in cooperation with volunteers, identified 6,024 Russian servicemen killed in the war in Ukraine based on open-source data.