About 400,000 Russians are currently deployed on the territory of Ukraine, at least according to the calculations of the Ukrainian military intelligence service.

Its head, Kirill Budanov, told Ukrainian state television that 370,000 of them are members of the regular army. In addition, he spoke of 20,000 members of the Russian Guard, an elite paramilitary force, and about 7,000 mercenaries of Russian private military companies, including Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner.

According to Mr. Budanov, very few foreigners are participating in the war on the side of Russia. “They were never interested in bringing foreigners to fight. Instead, they adopted the approach of replacing casualties with convicts,” he argued.

Ukrainian military intelligence does not believe the Russians have sufficient troops in the field to launch offensive operations. He says the Russian staff appears to be emphasizing preparations to defend captured territory.

Kiev claims that Russian casualties since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022 are just under 200,000. It is not clear if this number only refers to the dead, or if it includes the injured.

Neither side in the conflict has released detailed figures on their losses in the war.