The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, claims that more than 700.000 Russian soldiers are in Ukraine.
Putin presented that figure during a meeting with top Russian deputies, which was broadcast on state television.
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR) at the beginning of September also estimated that nearly 700.000 Russian soldiers are on Ukrainian territory, including members of the National Guard, special forces, and logistics units.
“Most are deployed in the Donetsk region, which shows Russian priorities,” stated at that time the spokesman of HUR Andriy Yusov.
The Ukrainian army numbers nearly 900.000 members throughout the country. Nevertheless, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy already in January warned that Russia in certain sectors of the battlefield still has numerical advantage precisely because of the concentration of forces.
At that time, according to his words, the Russian contingent in Ukraine numbered 600.000 soldiers.
Despite the fact that during the total invasion, according to Ukrainian estimates, it had more than a million killed and wounded, Russia manages to make up for losses with new soldiers, whom it hires on contract.
Kyiv, on the other hand, is facing a growing problem of a lack of manpower.
Moscow is also being helped by North Korea. After the initial sending of between 11 and 12 thousand soldiers to the Kursk region at the end of 2024, new reinforcements are expected.
North Korean soldiers helped Russia repel the Ukrainian incursion across the border, and in the process, according to available data, suffered about 2.000 killed.
